Ferghana.Ru news agencyhttp://enews.ferghana.ru
Daily Central Asian newsTurkmenistan: Information Blockade and Fomenting Terror through Propaganda Must Be Stoppedhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3165<p><div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/civic.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"><div class="imagePreviewText"></div></div><FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Statement by the Turkmenistan Civic Solidarity Group, delivered by members of the Civic Solidarity Platform at the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on freedom of expression and freedom of the media on 28 October 2016 in Vienna.</font></p>
<p>The Turkmenistan Civic Solidarity Group expresses its utmost concern over the recent negative developments in Turkmenistan, which threaten to completely destroy freedom of expression and access to information in the country. For many years, Turkmenistan has had no independent mass media, and the government has prohibited the distribution of foreign press and brutally suppressed freedom of speech. However, recent developments could push the country even closer to total isolation from the outside world. The OSCE political bodies, institutions, and member States must pay attention to this dramatic turn of events. We urge them to take action to stop Turkmenistan’s slide towards dictatorship.</p>
<p>First, the country’s authorities are taking active steps to impose a full information blockade on Turkmen society. In particular, they are advancing an ongoing nationwide campaign to destroy satellite antennas. Throughout the post-Soviet years, privately owned satellite dishes have served as the only means for the Turkmen people to access independent international television and radio broadcasting. Official Turkmen and Russian television only broadcast propaganda. Countrywide removal of private satellite dishes on the pretext of “improving the look of cities” began in the spring of 2015. After an intervention by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the campaign was put on hold, but soon resumed with new vigor. Today, with the adoption of the country’s new Constitution, celebrations of the 25th anniversary of independence, and preparations for presidential elections, the campaign to destroy the remaining satellite dishes is gaining new strength. The removal of satellite dishes happens in two stages: first, in a targeted effort driven by the central government, TV antennas are removed from rooftops everywhere, one after another. After a while, the local authorities raid residential communities repeatedly, destroying any antennas that people have managed to recover and install in inconspicuous places. For this purpose, small teams of municipal employees make surveillance rounds of local communities and destroy any detected antennas in a most barbaric way so as to make them unrepairable and unusable. Residents trying to resist the ban have faced pressure and threats. Local observers have described the campaign as “information terror.” As an alternative, the authorities are offering strictly censored “cable TV” which airs pre-recorded foreign entertainment programs and does not include any radio broadcasting. Satellite radio allowed Turkmen citizens to listen to Radio Azatlyk, which is the RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service and the only Turkmen-language broadcaster independent from the authorities. The destruction of satellite dishes effectively cuts off Turkmen people from any information and news from the outside world, leaving them with nothing but the official propaganda broadcast by Turkmen and Russian television.</p>
<p>The Internet is prohibitively expensive in Turkmenistan, its speed is deliberately slow, and most importantly, it is subject to total censorship. Access is blocked to all websites that have ever posted critical information about the Turkmen authorities, including the websites of foreign NGOs and Turkmen human rights groups in exile. Virtually all known social media, messengers, and video hosting platforms, such as YouTube, are outlawed. All Internet access is channeled through a sole government-controlled monopolist provider, allowing the authorities to access and read all user correspondence. Attempts to use proxy servers and VPN are detected and blocked; their users are subjected to administrative penalties and summoned for “preventive interviews” to the Ministry of National Security, where they face psychological pressure and intimidation. As an example of the Turkmen authorities’ attitude towards the Internet and freedom of expression, President Berdymuhamedov said recently that Turkmenistan had already put together “a team of experienced professionals who will deal with the proliferation of false information on the Internet” about the Asian Indoor Games to be held in the autumn of 2017 in Turkmenistan. Thus, the Internet, as well as television, radio and print media, can no longer serve as a channel for receiving and transmitting independent public interest information in Turkmenistan.</p>
<p>Second, the authorities have increased repression on independent collection and dissemination of information. We are gravely concerned over recent reports of persecution and punishment targeting civil society activists cooperating with foreign news agencies and non-governmental organizations. In particular, reporters of RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service (Radio Azatlyk) have faced continuing physical and psychological pressure. Last year, Azatlyk stringer and civic activist Saparmamed Nepeskuliev was sentenced to three years in prison on fabricated charges of drug possession. Last week, two new arrests were reported of activists documenting human rights violations in cotton production, and a violent assault against a female Azatlyk reporter, who was taking photos of people queuing for scarce food products in state stores. The authorities are doing all they can to stop critical reporting of the situation in Turkmenistan from getting out.</p>
<p>The disgusting propaganda against civic activists, which has in recent years grown into full-scale psychological terror, serves the same purpose. Turkmenistan’s senior government officials have initiated and supported a number of propaganda-driven websites to promote loyalty to the government, construct a foreign enemy image, and demonize the few remaining Turkmen civil society activists. While such websites never mention their government affiliation, their aggressive propaganda clearly indicates that they not only transmit the official opinions, but also seek to propagate the official ideology and outlook on domestic and international events. They react with aggressive publications to every critical comment voiced by foreign media or raised by intergovernmental organizations; such reactions are often extremely vulgar and clearly seek to create the image of an enemy. They also publish offensive comments and threats targeting human rights defenders in exile and the few civil society activists living in the country. They smear, marginalize, and attack specific individuals, independent activists as a social group, and civic engagement as a phenomenon. Such use of massive, sordid propaganda to forge the image of an enemy contributes to an overall atmosphere of intimidation and intolerance for independent activism, effectively calls for discrimination, and justifies violence against civic activists. Such legitimization of violence is extremely dangerous in the context of increasingly frequent threats and attacks against activists in exile and even murders of their relatives inside the country.</p>
<p>We also wish to draw international attention to another odious trend recently observed in these propaganda-driven publications, along with the already familiar insults, demeaning labels, and images of external and internal enemies. These publications have also engaged in explicit anti-Semitism. Blatant and increasing anti-Semitism projected by the authors and the government officials who stand behind them clearly indicates that they have crossed the last boundary. This disgraceful practice deserves strong and public condemnation by the international community. Turning a blind eye would be both impossible and unacceptable.</p>
<p>An investigation conducted by Turkmen activists has revealed both the customers and masterminds behind this psychological terror campaign. The names of the authors and, more importantly, ideologists and initiators of these publications, are also known. We know that, unfortunately, top level officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan are behind this disgusting campaign of harassment targeting civil society activists. These officials have been the architects of the Turkmen president’s personality cult. Moreover, they were the organizers and participants of massive repression in Turkmenistan under President Niyazov and are personally responsible for the numerous ongoing disappearances in Turkmen prisons. They wish to hide the evidence of these crimes and other human rights violations from Turkmen society and international community and evade responsibility.</p>
<p>All of these developments suggest that the Turkmen authorities have chosen to ignore their OSCE commitments regarding freedom of expression and access to information in order to hide other massive and systematic violations of their human rights obligations.</p>
<p>Just two months ago, the OSCE once again tried to assist the Turkmen authorities in meeting their commitments regarding democratic institutions and the rule of law. With the consent of the Turkmen government, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights conducted a legal review of the draft new Constitution and offered extensive recommendations on amending the draft pursuant to Turkmenistan’s obligations under the OSCE and the UN. However, the country’s authorities chose to blatantly disregard these recommendations and instead of amending the draft, put it on a fast track. The new Constitution passed all stages of adoption and approval within one day, a few months earlier than originally scheduled, with all provisions contrary to international law still intact. This is an overt challenge to the OSCE and the international community on behalf of the Turkmen government.</p>
<p>We note with regret that the absence of an adequate response from the international community to the willful disregard by the Turkmen authorities of their OSCE commitments and of recommendations by the OSCE institutions was soon followed by public rhetoric containing threats against civil activists and disgusting anti-Semitic statements. It was also followed by further suppression of the right to free access to information and freedom of expression. It is no longer possible to continue to engage in dialogue “as usual” with Turkmenistan and tolerate deception, simulation of cooperation, and massive violations of international obligations by the country’s authorities. The international community must undertake a sober and responsible assessment of the situation in Turkmenistan and develop new approaches to addressing the untenable situation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>The Turkmenistan Civic Solidarity Group is one of the Working Groups of the Civic Solidarity Platform, a broad-based network of nongovernmental human rights organizations, which has been active for more than five years in the OSCE framework and brings together more than 80 member organizations from nearly 30 countries in Europe, Central Asia and North America.</b></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencySat, 29 Oct 2016 08:06:02 +0300<div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/civic.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"><div class="imagePreviewText"></div></div><FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Statement by the Turkmenistan Civic Solidarity Group, delivered by members of the Civic Solidarity Platform at the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on freedom of expression and freedom of the media on 28 October 2016 in Vienna.</font>
The Turkmenistan Civic Solidarity Group expresses its utmost concern over the recent negative developments in Turkmenistan, which threaten to completely destroy freedom of expression and access to information in the country. For many years, Turkmenistan has had no independent mass media, and the government has prohibited the distribution of foreign press and brutally suppressed freedom of speech. However, recent developments could push the country even closer to total isolation from the outside world. The OSCE political bodies, institutions, and member States must pay attention to this dramatic turn of events. We urge them to take action to stop Turkmenistan’s slide towards dictatorship.
First, the country’s authorities are taking active steps to impose a full information blockade on Turkmen society. In particular, they are advancing an ongoing nationwide campaign to destroy satellite antennas. Throughout the post-Soviet years, privately owned satellite dishes have served as the only means for the Turkmen people to access independent international television and radio broadcasting. Official Turkmen and Russian television only broadcast propaganda. Countrywide removal of private satellite dishes on the pretext of “improving the look of cities” began in the spring of 2015. After an intervention by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the campaign was put on hold, but soon resumed with new vigor. Today, with the adoption of the country’s new Constitution, celebrations of the 25th anniversary of independence, and preparations for presidential elections, the campaign to destroy the remaining satellite dishes is gaining new strength. The removal of satellite dishes happens in two stages: first, in a targeted effort driven by the central government, TV antennas are removed from rooftops everywhere, one after another. After a while, the local authorities raid residential communities repeatedly, destroying any antennas that people have managed to recover and install in inconspicuous places. For this purpose, small teams of municipal employees make surveillance rounds of local communities and destroy any detected antennas in a most barbaric way so as to make them unrepairable and unusable. Residents trying to resist the ban have faced pressure and threats. Local observers have described the campaign as “information terror.” As an alternative, the authorities are offering strictly censored “cable TV” which airs pre-recorded foreign entertainment programs and does not include any radio broadcasting. Satellite radio allowed Turkmen citizens to listen to Radio Azatlyk, which is the RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service and the only Turkmen-language broadcaster independent from the authorities. The destruction of satellite dishes effectively cuts off Turkmen people from any information and news from the outside world, leaving them with nothing but the official propaganda broadcast by Turkmen and Russian television.
The Internet is prohibitively expensive in Turkmenistan, its speed is deliberately slow, and most importantly, it is subject to total censorship. Access is blocked to all websites that have ever posted critical information about the Turkmen authorities, including the websites of foreign NGOs and Turkmen human rights groups in exile. Virtually all known social media, messengers, and video hosting platforms, such as YouTube, are outlawed. All Internet access is channeled through a sole government-controlled monopolist provider, allowing the authorities to access and read all user correspondence. Attempts to use proxy servers and VPN are detected and blocked; their users are subjected to administrative penalties and summoned for “preventive interviews” to the Ministry of National Security, where they face psychological pressure and intimidation. As an example of the Turkmen authorities’ attitude towards the Internet and freedom of expression, President Berdymuhamedov said recently that Turkmenistan had already put together “a team of experienced professionals who will deal with the proliferation of false information on the Internet” about the Asian Indoor Games to be held in the autumn of 2017 in Turkmenistan. Thus, the Internet, as well as television, radio and print media, can no longer serve as a channel for receiving and transmitting independent public interest information in Turkmenistan.
Second, the authorities have increased repression on independent collection and dissemination of information. We are gravely concerned over recent reports of persecution and punishment targeting civil society activists cooperating with foreign news agencies and non-governmental organizations. In particular, reporters of RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service (Radio Azatlyk) have faced continuing physical and psychological pressure. Last year, Azatlyk stringer and civic activist Saparmamed Nepeskuliev was sentenced to three years in prison on fabricated charges of drug possession. Last week, two new arrests were reported of activists documenting human rights violations in cotton production, and a violent assault against a female Azatlyk reporter, who was taking photos of people queuing for scarce food products in state stores. The authorities are doing all they can to stop critical reporting of the situation in Turkmenistan from getting out.
The disgusting propaganda against civic activists, which has in recent years grown into full-scale psychological terror, serves the same purpose. Turkmenistan’s senior government officials have initiated and supported a number of propaganda-driven websites to promote loyalty to the government, construct a foreign enemy image, and demonize the few remaining Turkmen civil society activists. While such websites never mention their government affiliation, their aggressive propaganda clearly indicates that they not only transmit the official opinions, but also seek to propagate the official ideology and outlook on domestic and international events. They react with aggressive publications to every critical comment voiced by foreign media or raised by intergovernmental organizations; such reactions are often extremely vulgar and clearly seek to create the image of an enemy. They also publish offensive comments and threats targeting human rights defenders in exile and the few civil society activists living in the country. They smear, marginalize, and attack specific individuals, independent activists as a social group, and civic engagement as a phenomenon. Such use of massive, sordid propaganda to forge the image of an enemy contributes to an overall atmosphere of intimidation and intolerance for independent activism, effectively calls for discrimination, and justifies violence against civic activists. Such legitimization of violence is extremely dangerous in the context of increasingly frequent threats and attacks against activists in exile and even murders of their relatives inside the country.
We also wish to draw international attention to another odious trend recently observed in these propaganda-driven publications, along with the already familiar insults, demeaning labels, and images of external and internal enemies. These publications have also engaged in explicit anti-Semitism. Blatant and increasing anti-Semitism projected by the authors and the government officials who stand behind them clearly indicates that they have crossed the last boundary. This disgraceful practice deserves strong and public condemnation by the international community. Turning a blind eye would be both impossible and unacceptable.
An investigation conducted by Turkmen activists has revealed both the customers and masterminds behind this psychological terror campaign. The names of the authors and, more importantly, ideologists and initiators of these publications, are also known. We know that, unfortunately, top level officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan are behind this disgusting campaign of harassment targeting civil society activists. These officials have been the architects of the Turkmen president’s personality cult. Moreover, they were the organizers and participants of massive repression in Turkmenistan under President Niyazov and are personally responsible for the numerous ongoing disappearances in Turkmen prisons. They wish to hide the evidence of these crimes and other human rights violations from Turkmen society and international community and evade responsibility.
All of these developments suggest that the Turkmen authorities have chosen to ignore their OSCE commitments regarding freedom of expression and access to information in order to hide other massive and systematic violations of their human rights obligations.
Just two months ago, the OSCE once again tried to assist the Turkmen authorities in meeting their commitments regarding democratic institutions and the rule of law. With the consent of the Turkmen government, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights conducted a legal review of the draft new Constitution and offered extensive recommendations on amending the draft pursuant to Turkmenistan’s obligations under the OSCE and the UN. However, the country’s authorities chose to blatantly disregard these recommendations and instead of amending the draft, put it on a fast track. The new Constitution passed all stages of adoption and approval within one day, a few months earlier than originally scheduled, with all provisions contrary to international law still intact. This is an overt challenge to the OSCE and the international community on behalf of the Turkmen government.
We note with regret that the absence of an adequate response from the international community to the willful disregard by the Turkmen authorities of their OSCE commitments and of recommendations by the OSCE institutions was soon followed by public rhetoric containing threats against civil activists and disgusting anti-Semitic statements. It was also followed by further suppression of the right to free access to information and freedom of expression. It is no longer possible to continue to engage in dialogue “as usual” with Turkmenistan and tolerate deception, simulation of cooperation, and massive violations of international obligations by the country’s authorities. The international community must undertake a sober and responsible assessment of the situation in Turkmenistan and develop new approaches to addressing the untenable situation.
<b>The Turkmenistan Civic Solidarity Group is one of the Working Groups of the Civic Solidarity Platform, a broad-based network of nongovernmental human rights organizations, which has been active for more than five years in the OSCE framework and brings together more than 80 member organizations from nearly 30 countries in Europe, Central Asia and North America.</b>Youth not welcome everywhere. ZhasCamp “nonconference” for youth cancelled in Kazakhstan http://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3164<p>The <a href=http://www.zhascamp.kz/ target=_blank>ZhasCamp</a> “nonconference” for youth on social initiatives has been partially and completely, respectively, cancelled in two cities in <b>Kazakhstan</b>. On October 15, the conference was held in a shortened format in Atyrau following several rejections on the part of venue owners. A “nonconference” planned for October 22 in Pavlodar has never taken place. Irina Mednikova, the organiser in charge of the conferences, links the cancellations to an attack on her that happened less than 24 hours before the first conference day.</p>
<p><a href=http://www.zhascamp.kz/ target=_blank><img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/zhascamp.jpg width=100% hspace=0 border=0 alt=""></a><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#7A7A7A">A screenshot of the ZhasCamp website</font><br /></p>
<p>The Atyrau State University refused to provide its venue a week ahead of the event’s beginning. The ZhasCamp organisers had a contingency plan in case of such an outcome: they had agreements with hotels. However, just half-hour prior to the conference beginning, the Atyrau and Renaissance hotels both refused to provide their venues even though both businesses obtained prepayments at the time of cancellation. Local speakers, too, started withdrawing their consent to speak and participate.</p>
<p>The ZhasCamp event in Atyrau planned to discuss the issues of gender, ethnicity, religion, media and culture. More than 30 young individuals have arrived in this western town from other parts of the country in addition to over 100 local participants.</p>
<p>“I can see that [contents on] my disk was opened and [someone] launched an addressed work with partners,” Ms Mednikova has said. She was attacked by unidentified individuals several hours prior to her flight to Atyrau in the evening of October 12; she lost her money, smartphone and laptop computer with all data.</p>
<p>Despite these problems, it was still possible to find a hotel in Atyrau that would rent its hall. The event did take place albeit in much more modestly and it was wrapped up before its scheduled ending at the insistence of the hotel managers.</p>
<p>A refusal from the Toraygyr State University in Pavdolar was received after 2000 hours on October 21. The official reason for refusal: burst water mains. According to the organisers, finding an alternative venue was impossible: others would either simply not respond to phone calls or would say they were booked or simply “you can’t.”</p>
<p>A total of 200 participants, including 40 from elsewhere, were registered for the ZhasCamp in Pavlodar. Artyom Loskutov, an artist from Novosibirsk, Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Kiev-based Centre for Counteract Corruption, and Pavlodar Deputy Mayor Meyram Begentayev were to speak at the event.</p>
<p>ZhasСamp is successfully held in various cities and towns in Kazakhstan since 2010. Tens of social and business projects have been come up with as the result of those events. Soros-Kazakhstan Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe provided financial assistance to ZhasСamps this year. </p>
<p>On Monday, one of the sponsors issued a <a href=http://en.soros.kz/press_center/statements/the_statement target=_blank>statement</a> regarding the events cancellations. “The Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan (SFK) expresses its deep concern over the disruption of the Informal Youth Conference “ZhasCamp” on October 15, 2016 in Atyrau and October 22, 2016 in Pavlodar.</p>
<p>“Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan calls upon the local public authorities of Atyrau and Pavlodar regions to comment on the incidents and to express their position on further cooperation with civil society organizations towards greater civic engagement of young people in our country,” it reads in part.</p>
<p>Ms Mednikova posted on her Facebook page that an event with similar title and logo was held in Atyrau a year ago, organised by the youth branch of the pro-presidential Nur Otan Party and financed by the city administration. </p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyThu, 27 Oct 2016 08:11:03 +0300The <a href=http://www.zhascamp.kz/ target=_blank>ZhasCamp</a> “nonconference” for youth on social initiatives has been partially and completely, respectively, cancelled in two cities in <b>Kazakhstan</b>. On October 15, the conference was held in a shortened format in Atyrau following several rejections on the part of venue owners. A “nonconference” planned for October 22 in Pavlodar has never taken place. Irina Mednikova, the organiser in charge of the conferences, links the cancellations to an attack on her that happened less than 24 hours before the first conference day.
<a href=http://www.zhascamp.kz/ target=_blank><img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/zhascamp.jpg width=100% hspace=0 border=0 alt=""></a><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#7A7A7A">A screenshot of the ZhasCamp website</font><br />
The Atyrau State University refused to provide its venue a week ahead of the event’s beginning. The ZhasCamp organisers had a contingency plan in case of such an outcome: they had agreements with hotels. However, just half-hour prior to the conference beginning, the Atyrau and Renaissance hotels both refused to provide their venues even though both businesses obtained prepayments at the time of cancellation. Local speakers, too, started withdrawing their consent to speak and participate.
The ZhasCamp event in Atyrau planned to discuss the issues of gender, ethnicity, religion, media and culture. More than 30 young individuals have arrived in this western town from other parts of the country in addition to over 100 local participants.
“I can see that [contents on] my disk was opened and [someone] launched an addressed work with partners,” Ms Mednikova has said. She was attacked by unidentified individuals several hours prior to her flight to Atyrau in the evening of October 12; she lost her money, smartphone and laptop computer with all data.
Despite these problems, it was still possible to find a hotel in Atyrau that would rent its hall. The event did take place albeit in much more modestly and it was wrapped up before its scheduled ending at the insistence of the hotel managers.
A refusal from the Toraygyr State University in Pavdolar was received after 2000 hours on October 21. The official reason for refusal: burst water mains. According to the organisers, finding an alternative venue was impossible: others would either simply not respond to phone calls or would say they were booked or simply “you can’t.”
A total of 200 participants, including 40 from elsewhere, were registered for the ZhasCamp in Pavlodar. Artyom Loskutov, an artist from Novosibirsk, Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Kiev-based Centre for Counteract Corruption, and Pavlodar Deputy Mayor Meyram Begentayev were to speak at the event.
ZhasСamp is successfully held in various cities and towns in Kazakhstan since 2010. Tens of social and business projects have been come up with as the result of those events. Soros-Kazakhstan Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe provided financial assistance to ZhasСamps this year.
On Monday, one of the sponsors issued a <a href=http://en.soros.kz/press_center/statements/the_statement target=_blank>statement</a> regarding the events cancellations. “The Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan (SFK) expresses its deep concern over the disruption of the Informal Youth Conference “ZhasCamp” on October 15, 2016 in Atyrau and October 22, 2016 in Pavlodar.
“Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan calls upon the local public authorities of Atyrau and Pavlodar regions to comment on the incidents and to express their position on further cooperation with civil society organizations towards greater civic engagement of young people in our country,” it reads in part.
Ms Mednikova posted on her Facebook page that an event with similar title and logo was held in Atyrau a year ago, organised by the youth branch of the pro-presidential Nur Otan Party and financed by the city administration.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Uzbekistan: Human rights defender sentenced on politically motivated grounds released from prisonhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3163<p>Yesterday, 25 October 2016, <b>Uzbekistani</b> human rights defender Bobumurad Razzokov was released on health grounds after spending three years in prison on trumped-up charges. The Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) and International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) welcome Bobumurad’s release from prison, although they believe that he should never have been imprisoned in the first place. It is now vital that he is immediately granted adequate medical treatment for his health problems.</p>
<p><img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/razzokovv.jpg width=100% hspace=0 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Left to right: Abdurakhman Tashanov, Bobumurad Razzokov and Vasilya Inoyatova Copyright: Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan “Ezgulik"</font><br /></p>
<p>Bobumurad is former chairman of the Bukhara oblast branch of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan “Ezgulik”. Prior to his arrest on 10 July 2013, he worked regularly with foreign media and sent complaints about corruption, forced labour and problems faced by local farmers to the Buhari oblast administration (hokimiat), the Prosecutor’s office and the president. Shortly before his arrest in July 2013 he made a press statement saying he was under pressure from the authorities because of his human rights work. The day after his arrest, officials seized printed materials from his home related to his human rights work. On 24 September 2013, he was found guilty of human trafficking (Article 135 of the criminal code) and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment following an unfair trial held in violation of international standards. He has consistently denied the charges. Bobumurad Razzokov was released after serving three years of the four year sentence.</p>
<p>Until yesterday, he was held in prison no. 64/3 in Tavaksai village, Tashkent region. Aged 64, Bobumurad Razzokov worked in the prison brick factory. A month ago, a former fellow inmate told the AHRCA that Bobumurad had suffered severe depression while in detention and was mistreated regularly by fellow prisoners. The prison administration reportedly forbade other prisoners from communicating with him. Bobumurad’s relatives have not been allowed to visit him for the last two years and his health reportedly seriously deteriorated in prison.</p>
<p>The imprisonment of Bobumurad Razzokov is part of a pattern of state persecution of human rights defenders and peaceful activists in Uzbekistan.</p>
<p><b>The AHRCA and IPHR urge the Uzbekistani authorities to:</b></p>
<p>- Ensure that Bobumurad Razzokov is given a prompt medical examination and provided with the necessary medical treatment for his health problems;</p>
<p>- Immediately and unconditionally release the other human rights defenders, journalists and peaceful activists who are in prison in Uzbekistan following politically motivated, unfair trials including: Nuraddin Dzhumaniyazov; Fakhriddin Tillaev; Azam Farmonov; Isroilzhon Kholarov; Ganikhon Mamatkhanov; Muhammad Bekzhanov; Yusuf Ruzimurodov; Erkin Musaev; Gaibullo Djalilov; Matluba Kamilova; Chuan Mamatkulov; Akzam Turgunov; Solidzhon Abdurakhmanov; Gairat Mikhliboev; Dilmurod Saidov; Samandar Kukanov; Kudratbek Rasulov and Rustam Usmanov.</p>
<p><b>Source: <a href=http://iphronline.org/uzbekistan-hrd-released-20161026.html target=_blank>IPHR</a> </b></p>
<p></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyWed, 26 Oct 2016 18:44:03 +0300Yesterday, 25 October 2016, <b>Uzbekistani</b> human rights defender Bobumurad Razzokov was released on health grounds after spending three years in prison on trumped-up charges. The Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) and International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) welcome Bobumurad’s release from prison, although they believe that he should never have been imprisoned in the first place. It is now vital that he is immediately granted adequate medical treatment for his health problems.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/razzokovv.jpg width=100% hspace=0 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Left to right: Abdurakhman Tashanov, Bobumurad Razzokov and Vasilya Inoyatova Copyright: Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan “Ezgulik"</font><br />
Bobumurad is former chairman of the Bukhara oblast branch of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan “Ezgulik”. Prior to his arrest on 10 July 2013, he worked regularly with foreign media and sent complaints about corruption, forced labour and problems faced by local farmers to the Buhari oblast administration (hokimiat), the Prosecutor’s office and the president. Shortly before his arrest in July 2013 he made a press statement saying he was under pressure from the authorities because of his human rights work. The day after his arrest, officials seized printed materials from his home related to his human rights work. On 24 September 2013, he was found guilty of human trafficking (Article 135 of the criminal code) and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment following an unfair trial held in violation of international standards. He has consistently denied the charges. Bobumurad Razzokov was released after serving three years of the four year sentence.
Until yesterday, he was held in prison no. 64/3 in Tavaksai village, Tashkent region. Aged 64, Bobumurad Razzokov worked in the prison brick factory. A month ago, a former fellow inmate told the AHRCA that Bobumurad had suffered severe depression while in detention and was mistreated regularly by fellow prisoners. The prison administration reportedly forbade other prisoners from communicating with him. Bobumurad’s relatives have not been allowed to visit him for the last two years and his health reportedly seriously deteriorated in prison.
The imprisonment of Bobumurad Razzokov is part of a pattern of state persecution of human rights defenders and peaceful activists in Uzbekistan.
<b>The AHRCA and IPHR urge the Uzbekistani authorities to:</b>
- Ensure that Bobumurad Razzokov is given a prompt medical examination and provided with the necessary medical treatment for his health problems;
- Immediately and unconditionally release the other human rights defenders, journalists and peaceful activists who are in prison in Uzbekistan following politically motivated, unfair trials including: Nuraddin Dzhumaniyazov; Fakhriddin Tillaev; Azam Farmonov; Isroilzhon Kholarov; Ganikhon Mamatkhanov; Muhammad Bekzhanov; Yusuf Ruzimurodov; Erkin Musaev; Gaibullo Djalilov; Matluba Kamilova; Chuan Mamatkulov; Akzam Turgunov; Solidzhon Abdurakhmanov; Gairat Mikhliboev; Dilmurod Saidov; Samandar Kukanov; Kudratbek Rasulov and Rustam Usmanov.
<b>Source: <a href=http://iphronline.org/uzbekistan-hrd-released-20161026.html target=_blank>IPHR</a> </b>
Alternative News of Turkmenistan: Popular Turkmen Singer Sentenced to 15 Yearshttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3162<p><div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/alternativet.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"><div class="imagePreviewText">Nazir Habibov confesses to drug use. Video grab from a Turkmen TV report</div></div></p>
<p>On October 24, a well-known Turkmen pop singer <strong>Nazir Habibov </strong>was found guilty of <a href="https://habartm.org/archives/3787">drug possession</a> with intent to distribute (Art. 292, Part 2) and possession without such intent (Art. 293, Part 1). The singer was convicted for possession of a large amount of drugs and drug use, <a href=https://habartm.org/archives/5932 target=_blank>ATN</a> sources said.</p>
<p>They said Habibov had a lawyer. At an open trial in Ashgabat, the singer pleaded guilty to drug use, but claimed that he had bought about 100 grams of opium. The prosecutor requested 15 years of prison for him, and 25 years for his alleged supplier, after which the court went to recess. The hearing continued in the afternoon and ended at 7 p.m. Habibov&#8217;s sentence was 15 years of prison. The man, who allegedly sold him the drugs, received 25 years. Thus, the court fully satisfied the prosecutor’s request.</p>
<p>On October 4, Turkmen state television had broadcast a story (see below) about detention of a group of people allegedly involved in <a href="https://habartm.org/archives/2727">trafficking</a> and sale of a large consignment of opium and <a href="https://habartm.org/archives/5291">Tramadol</a> opioid pain medication. At the end of the story, they showed Habibov, who said: &#171;I had a great life, and with my actions, I dishonored my parents, my family, my four children. I vow to never get involved in such unrighteous dealings. Forgive me.&#187;</p>
<p>ATN sources in the law enforcement said that the TV story was made up of two parts: the first group of drug dealers was arrested in spring, while Habibov was detained in summer. For some reason, the state TV did not show the people, who allegedly sold drugs to Habibov.</p></p>
<p>Nazir Habibov is 27, he is married and has four young children; the youngest is only five months old. Another famous performer &#8212; <strong>Haji Yazmammedov,</strong> was arrested together with Habibov, but was released a few days later. The source said that &#171;someone from the Turkmen establishment&#187; intervened on his behalf.</p>
<p><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CrXl242U8Zw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>People who know Habibov personally believe that the case against him was fabricated. Nazir <a href="https://habartm.org/archives/3501">has never used drugs</a>, they said. ATN will follow up shortly with more information about this case.</p></p>
<p></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyWed, 26 Oct 2016 16:10:05 +0300<div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/alternativet.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"><div class="imagePreviewText">Nazir Habibov confesses to drug use. Video grab from a Turkmen TV report</div></div>
On October 24, a well-known Turkmen pop singer <strong>Nazir Habibov </strong>was found guilty of <a href="https://habartm.org/archives/3787">drug possession</a> with intent to distribute (Art. 292, Part 2) and possession without such intent (Art. 293, Part 1). The singer was convicted for possession of a large amount of drugs and drug use, <a href=https://habartm.org/archives/5932 target=_blank>ATN</a> sources said.
They said Habibov had a lawyer. At an open trial in Ashgabat, the singer pleaded guilty to drug use, but claimed that he had bought about 100 grams of opium. The prosecutor requested 15 years of prison for him, and 25 years for his alleged supplier, after which the court went to recess. The hearing continued in the afternoon and ended at 7 p.m. Habibov&#8217;s sentence was 15 years of prison. The man, who allegedly sold him the drugs, received 25 years. Thus, the court fully satisfied the prosecutor’s request.
On October 4, Turkmen state television had broadcast a story (see below) about detention of a group of people allegedly involved in <a href="https://habartm.org/archives/2727">trafficking</a> and sale of a large consignment of opium and <a href="https://habartm.org/archives/5291">Tramadol</a> opioid pain medication. At the end of the story, they showed Habibov, who said: &#171;I had a great life, and with my actions, I dishonored my parents, my family, my four children. I vow to never get involved in such unrighteous dealings. Forgive me.&#187;
ATN sources in the law enforcement said that the TV story was made up of two parts: the first group of drug dealers was arrested in spring, while Habibov was detained in summer. For some reason, the state TV did not show the people, who allegedly sold drugs to Habibov.</p>
Nazir Habibov is 27, he is married and has four young children; the youngest is only five months old. Another famous performer &#8212; <strong>Haji Yazmammedov,</strong> was arrested together with Habibov, but was released a few days later. The source said that &#171;someone from the Turkmen establishment&#187; intervened on his behalf.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CrXl242U8Zw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
People who know Habibov personally believe that the case against him was fabricated. Nazir <a href="https://habartm.org/archives/3501">has never used drugs</a>, they said. ATN will follow up shortly with more information about this case.</p>
Uzbek authorities tackle fuel deficit, profiteers with skyrocketing priceshttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3161<p>Fuel prices have skyrocketed in Uzbekistan starting October 23. According to <i>Podrobno.Uz</i>, the increase is between 31.6 and 34.9 per cent depending on the fuel grade.</p>
<p><img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/benzo3.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Long queues at fuel stations in Tashkent are an unsurprising occurrence</font><br /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The price for the AI-80 grade fuel for vehicles is set at 2,800 Uzbek soums, up from 2,075 soums, i.e. 34.9 per cent increase. The АI-91, AI-92, and AI-93 grades will be sold at 3,000 soums, up from 2,280 soums, i.e. 31.6 per cent increase in price. Finally, the АI-95 grade will now be sold at 3,300 soums, up from 2,505 soums; 31.7 per cent increase that is.</p>
<p>The official currency exchange rate as of October 18 was 3,065 soums for one US dollars, whereas the real exchange rate at the black market ranges between 6,670 and 6,750 soums.</p>
<p>According to UzbekNefteMahsulot Company’s <a href=http://unm.uz/ru/press-center/novosti/411-5 target=_blank>press-service</a>, which cites the UzbekNefteGas National Holding Company, the new prices will be effective throughout the entire country.</p>
<p>The decision was adopted after citizens complained regarding “selling vehicle fuel in certain stations at higher prices, long queues at fuel stations, […] transporting fuel out of Tashkent for profiteering at 3,000 to 5,000 soums per litre,” the press release further reads. Complaints were lodged with the national holding company and the prime minister’s online reception website.</p>
<p><img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/benzo2.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">A screenshot of the UzbekNefteGas press release </font><br /></p>
<p>It is highly unlikely that any of these complaints included requests to officially increase the fuel prices. However, the smart people among the Uzbek authorities decided to eradicate the fuel shortage by precisely increasing fuel prices. Perhaps they assume profiteers will be ashamed to hike their prices higher than these.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, UzbekNefteMahsulot stated two days earlier that there was no shortage of vehicle fuels and other lubricants. The company urged drivers not to purchase more fuel than they need at the time in order not to cause agiotage. It is worth noting the company issues such statements nearly on an annual basis.</p>
<p><img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/benzo1.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">UzbekNefteMahsulot always tries to convince everyone that there are no fuel shortages in Uzbekistan</font><br /></p>
<p>There are some social networks users proposing to file new complaints only this time including requests to decrease fuel prices. Others try to convinces themselves and others that there would no longer be queues at fuel stations and would always be available and in good quality. Third parties remind about the laws of supply and demand, stating the prices should not have been increased but fuel stations must have been supplied with sufficient amounts of fuel.</p>
<p>Every time fuel prices increase, services and goods prices follow immediately. The latter prices have already increased by 15 per cent following the announcement of salaries and pensions increase as of October 1. For instance, university tuitions have immediately rose, so did costs of cold and hot waters, heating, natural gas and electricity. </p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
<p> </p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyTue, 25 Oct 2016 18:48:05 +0300Fuel prices have skyrocketed in Uzbekistan starting October 23. According to <i>Podrobno.Uz</i>, the increase is between 31.6 and 34.9 per cent depending on the fuel grade.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/benzo3.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Long queues at fuel stations in Tashkent are an unsurprising occurrence</font><br />
The price for the AI-80 grade fuel for vehicles is set at 2,800 Uzbek soums, up from 2,075 soums, i.e. 34.9 per cent increase. The АI-91, AI-92, and AI-93 grades will be sold at 3,000 soums, up from 2,280 soums, i.e. 31.6 per cent increase in price. Finally, the АI-95 grade will now be sold at 3,300 soums, up from 2,505 soums; 31.7 per cent increase that is.
The official currency exchange rate as of October 18 was 3,065 soums for one US dollars, whereas the real exchange rate at the black market ranges between 6,670 and 6,750 soums.
According to UzbekNefteMahsulot Company’s <a href=http://unm.uz/ru/press-center/novosti/411-5 target=_blank>press-service</a>, which cites the UzbekNefteGas National Holding Company, the new prices will be effective throughout the entire country.
The decision was adopted after citizens complained regarding “selling vehicle fuel in certain stations at higher prices, long queues at fuel stations, […] transporting fuel out of Tashkent for profiteering at 3,000 to 5,000 soums per litre,” the press release further reads. Complaints were lodged with the national holding company and the prime minister’s online reception website.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/benzo2.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">A screenshot of the UzbekNefteGas press release </font><br />
It is highly unlikely that any of these complaints included requests to officially increase the fuel prices. However, the smart people among the Uzbek authorities decided to eradicate the fuel shortage by precisely increasing fuel prices. Perhaps they assume profiteers will be ashamed to hike their prices higher than these.
Meanwhile, UzbekNefteMahsulot stated two days earlier that there was no shortage of vehicle fuels and other lubricants. The company urged drivers not to purchase more fuel than they need at the time in order not to cause agiotage. It is worth noting the company issues such statements nearly on an annual basis.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/benzo1.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">UzbekNefteMahsulot always tries to convince everyone that there are no fuel shortages in Uzbekistan</font><br />
There are some social networks users proposing to file new complaints only this time including requests to decrease fuel prices. Others try to convinces themselves and others that there would no longer be queues at fuel stations and would always be available and in good quality. Third parties remind about the laws of supply and demand, stating the prices should not have been increased but fuel stations must have been supplied with sufficient amounts of fuel.
Every time fuel prices increase, services and goods prices follow immediately. The latter prices have already increased by 15 per cent following the announcement of salaries and pensions increase as of October 1. For instance, university tuitions have immediately rose, so did costs of cold and hot waters, heating, natural gas and electricity.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>
OSCE holds workshop in Uzbekistan for judges, prosecutors and investigators on countering the use of the Internet for terrorist purposeshttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3160<p><div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/osceee.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"></div>A two-day OSCE-organized national workshop on countering the use of Internet for terrorist purposes began today in Tashkent, bringing together some 40 judges, prosecutors and investigators from across <b>Uzbekistan</b>.</p>
<p>Organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan and the Action against Terrorism Unit (ATU) of the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threat Department, the event will provide a platform to discuss issues related to legal frameworks on countering the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, the use of open source intelligence, and the protection and recovery of forensic data in investigations. Participants will also explore good practices in investigating different components and stages of the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes.</p>
<p> “The Internet has developed into one of the most advantageous means for nourishing fundamental values, such as democracy and freedom of expression,” said Hans-Ullrich Ihm, Acting OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan.” In order to effectively counter terrorism and extremism on the Internet, it is vital to actively unify and harmonize the national legislation in this area, and thus provide for a more effective correlation of anti-terrorism measures taken at national, regional and international levels.”</p>
<p>During the workshop, participants will exchange experiences with 13 international experts from Canada, Israel, Italy, Portugal, the Russian Federation, the Anti-Terrorism Centre of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Advisers from the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and ATU will also share best practices in promoting a comprehensive approach to preventing the use of the Internet as a facilitator of terrorist activities.</p>
<p>The seminar is a part of a joint project with Uzbekistan, aimed at providing assistance to national law enforcement agencies and relevant institutions from the non-governmental sector in building the capabilities of practitioners to effectively respond to terrorism-related threats in compliance with human rights and the rule of law.</p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyTue, 25 Oct 2016 12:18:04 +0300<div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/osceee.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"></div>A two-day OSCE-organized national workshop on countering the use of Internet for terrorist purposes began today in Tashkent, bringing together some 40 judges, prosecutors and investigators from across <b>Uzbekistan</b>.
Organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan and the Action against Terrorism Unit (ATU) of the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threat Department, the event will provide a platform to discuss issues related to legal frameworks on countering the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, the use of open source intelligence, and the protection and recovery of forensic data in investigations. Participants will also explore good practices in investigating different components and stages of the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes.
“The Internet has developed into one of the most advantageous means for nourishing fundamental values, such as democracy and freedom of expression,” said Hans-Ullrich Ihm, Acting OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan.” In order to effectively counter terrorism and extremism on the Internet, it is vital to actively unify and harmonize the national legislation in this area, and thus provide for a more effective correlation of anti-terrorism measures taken at national, regional and international levels.”
During the workshop, participants will exchange experiences with 13 international experts from Canada, Israel, Italy, Portugal, the Russian Federation, the Anti-Terrorism Centre of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Advisers from the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and ATU will also share best practices in promoting a comprehensive approach to preventing the use of the Internet as a facilitator of terrorist activities.
The seminar is a part of a joint project with Uzbekistan, aimed at providing assistance to national law enforcement agencies and relevant institutions from the non-governmental sector in building the capabilities of practitioners to effectively respond to terrorism-related threats in compliance with human rights and the rule of law.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Turkmenistan: Police humiliate, severely beat “asocial” detainees in Ashgabathttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3159<p><div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/turpol1.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"></div>Ahead of the Independence Day of <b>Turkmenistan</b>, celebrated on October 27, Ashgabat police are arresting visitors and the so-called “asocial elements,” i.e. drug addicts, alcoholics, homeless people, and prostitutes. Quite often, drunk or late non-“asocial” city dwellers end up in police’s hands.</p>
<p>According to <a href=http://www.chrono-tm.org/2016/10/chistyiy-ashhabad-prodolzhenie-temyi/ target=_blank>The Chronicles of Turkmenistan</a>, the latter are released after several hours if their relatives come for them; residents of other cities are fined and then sent out of the capital. Others are subjected to humiliation and violent beating. For instance, according to eyewitnesses, young women may be forced to strip naked and then jump and sit to entertain male police officers.</p>
<p>All detainees are sent to a facility in Dashoguz Region, where they are subjected to a “four-day hell: beatings, and moral and physical violence,” because police officers try to force them into confessing to having committed crimes they failed to solve. There is a “wailing wall” at this facility: a concrete wall with uneven-sharp surface covered in dark spots and stains; presumably the spots are dry blood remnants. </p>
<p>To torture detainees, police also use certain individuals who try to win the detainees’ trust and fish out information police want; if their attempts prove fruitless, they beat detainees. A young men and an elderly prostitute are known for such activities, with the latter luring young men into her apartment and then calling police, who extort money from them.</p>
<p>Detainees sleep on a wooden bed or a concrete floor full of lice and bugs. They use plastic bottles instead of pillows. For a certain amount of money, the detainees are allowed to contact their relatives, who bring food for them; police officers retain the bulk of that food for themselves.</p>
<p>Psychologically ill detainees are sent to the Dashoguz psychiatric clinic, which is notoriously known for a very high level of mortality due to expired medicines, violence and hunger. But the official cause for death is often said to be heart failure.</p>
<p>Many detained males are sent to a treatment and labour dispensary in Tejen; every person spends at least one year there. There are various rumours about this place so that people cut their veins when they learn they are being sent there.</p>
<p>Police apply a lot of efforts to catch “displeasing” persons, because they get paid 125 manats (round USD35) for each detainee or additional day-offs. There are cases when single retired or sick individuals are sent somewhere for “treatment,” and they never return from there; law-enforcement officers start living in their flats given the absence of sent away owners.</p>
<p>The operations to “cleanse” the Turkmen capital from “asocial elements” was supposed to start on September 22 and end on October 15; however, the operations are still underway.</p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencySat, 22 Oct 2016 23:57:03 +0300<div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/turpol1.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"></div>Ahead of the Independence Day of <b>Turkmenistan</b>, celebrated on October 27, Ashgabat police are arresting visitors and the so-called “asocial elements,” i.e. drug addicts, alcoholics, homeless people, and prostitutes. Quite often, drunk or late non-“asocial” city dwellers end up in police’s hands.
According to <a href=http://www.chrono-tm.org/2016/10/chistyiy-ashhabad-prodolzhenie-temyi/ target=_blank>The Chronicles of Turkmenistan</a>, the latter are released after several hours if their relatives come for them; residents of other cities are fined and then sent out of the capital. Others are subjected to humiliation and violent beating. For instance, according to eyewitnesses, young women may be forced to strip naked and then jump and sit to entertain male police officers.
All detainees are sent to a facility in Dashoguz Region, where they are subjected to a “four-day hell: beatings, and moral and physical violence,” because police officers try to force them into confessing to having committed crimes they failed to solve. There is a “wailing wall” at this facility: a concrete wall with uneven-sharp surface covered in dark spots and stains; presumably the spots are dry blood remnants.
To torture detainees, police also use certain individuals who try to win the detainees’ trust and fish out information police want; if their attempts prove fruitless, they beat detainees. A young men and an elderly prostitute are known for such activities, with the latter luring young men into her apartment and then calling police, who extort money from them.
Detainees sleep on a wooden bed or a concrete floor full of lice and bugs. They use plastic bottles instead of pillows. For a certain amount of money, the detainees are allowed to contact their relatives, who bring food for them; police officers retain the bulk of that food for themselves.
Psychologically ill detainees are sent to the Dashoguz psychiatric clinic, which is notoriously known for a very high level of mortality due to expired medicines, violence and hunger. But the official cause for death is often said to be heart failure.
Many detained males are sent to a treatment and labour dispensary in Tejen; every person spends at least one year there. There are various rumours about this place so that people cut their veins when they learn they are being sent there.
Police apply a lot of efforts to catch “displeasing” persons, because they get paid 125 manats (round USD35) for each detainee or additional day-offs. There are cases when single retired or sick individuals are sent somewhere for “treatment,” and they never return from there; law-enforcement officers start living in their flats given the absence of sent away owners.
The operations to “cleanse” the Turkmen capital from “asocial elements” was supposed to start on September 22 and end on October 15; however, the operations are still underway.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Kazakhstan: Terrorist acts organiser convinced participants over couple hourshttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3158<p>Newspaper <i>Eureka</i>, an Aktobe-based publication, was given the final indictment document in the case of alleged terrorist acts in Aktobe in June 2016. The prosecutor in said case is expected to read the indictment during the final hearing of the trial. According to prosecutors’ statements, Dmitriy Tanatarov is the organizer and leader of the terrorist attack in Aktobe in Western <b>Kazakhstan</b>. </p>
<p><img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/aktob11.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Law-enforcement officers detaining suspected terrorists in Aktobe. Photo by Aktobe People</font><br /></p>
<p>The indictment reads that Mr Tanatarov accepted the Islamic faith in early 2009, and later increased his religious knowledge by reading articles with religious content in the Internet.</p>
<p>The indictment further reads over the course of reading such materials on the Internet, Mr Tanatorov found himself under the influence of ideologues of religious radicalism and has consequently become a supporter of the “Salafi jihadi” movement. He has then started harbouring intentions to participate in a “fight for religion,” “holy war against disbelievers” and helping “oppressed” Muslims in Syria on the side of terrorist groups. To fulfil his ideas, he contacted his close acquaintance Arman Aytugan who is also a “Salafi jihadi” supporter.</p>
<p>However, their plans to travel to Syria were cancelled by trivial matters—the radicals did not have the money to travel. Late May 2016, according to the investigators, Messrs Tanatarov and Aytugan established a terrorist group. Several days later, the two companions recruited one more supporter, the 18-year-old Sultan Kabiyev.</p>
<p>The three individuals planned an armed assault on the Pallada weapons store to obtain firearms. To fulfil their plans, they launched propaganda among their friends and acquaintances—mainly those who are engaged in trading with used cellular phones, whom they met at various religious events before. In two days only, according to the investigators, they were able to involve 44 individuals.</p>
<p>On June 5, Mr Tanatarov invited his supporters to a rented flat to supposedly celebrate the birth of a child. When all the invited 47 individuals were there, Messrs Tanatarov, Aytugan and Kabiyev informed them of the real reason for gathering—launching jihad, which could be waged without leaving the country.</p>
<p>They listened to a lecture entitled “So the survivor is the one who survived in complete clarity” by Abu Mohamad al-Adnani, preacher for IS (a banned terrorist organisation), in Russian translation from Arabic. Mr Tanatarov continued the sermon, saying to those present that local law-enforcement agencies are “persecuting Muslim brothers, raping the believing sisters,” and urged them to kill law-enforcement officers in Aktobe.</p>
<p>Of those present, 22 individuals refused to partake in “jihad” and left the flat (they are now charged with concealing the assault plans). Those who stayed elected Mr Tanatarov as the emir of this terrorist group, at the proposal of Mr Aytugan, and agreed to launch a “holy war” instead of celebrating the birth of the aforementioned child. Further, according to the indictment, following brief consultations, the group “attacked the Pallada weapons store armed with weapons they already possessed in order to disrupt public security and terrorise the population, in accordance with a premeditated criminal plan.” Having obtained firearms [presumably: from Pallada], the jihadis attacked a military unit; they were then planning to storm Prison КА 168/2. But their plans were thwarted.</p>
<p>The trial of attack participants started on October 18. A total of nine surviving terrorists are being tried, while 21 are charged with concealment.</p>
<p>Perhaps the judge and prosecutors could explain how one person could convince 22 individuals, in just a couple of hours, to a practical implementation of terrorists attacks; however, the trial is being held behind closed doors.</p>
<p>At the same time, the Prosecutor General’s Office launched an investigation into the actions of the Aktobe police administration. A local newspaper cites Interfax-Kazakhtan, reporting head of the local police directorate is charged with inaction during the extremists’ attack.</p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencySat, 22 Oct 2016 23:19:05 +0300Newspaper <i>Eureka</i>, an Aktobe-based publication, was given the final indictment document in the case of alleged terrorist acts in Aktobe in June 2016. The prosecutor in said case is expected to read the indictment during the final hearing of the trial. According to prosecutors’ statements, Dmitriy Tanatarov is the organizer and leader of the terrorist attack in Aktobe in Western <b>Kazakhstan</b>.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/aktob11.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Law-enforcement officers detaining suspected terrorists in Aktobe. Photo by Aktobe People</font><br />
The indictment reads that Mr Tanatarov accepted the Islamic faith in early 2009, and later increased his religious knowledge by reading articles with religious content in the Internet.
The indictment further reads over the course of reading such materials on the Internet, Mr Tanatorov found himself under the influence of ideologues of religious radicalism and has consequently become a supporter of the “Salafi jihadi” movement. He has then started harbouring intentions to participate in a “fight for religion,” “holy war against disbelievers” and helping “oppressed” Muslims in Syria on the side of terrorist groups. To fulfil his ideas, he contacted his close acquaintance Arman Aytugan who is also a “Salafi jihadi” supporter.
However, their plans to travel to Syria were cancelled by trivial matters—the radicals did not have the money to travel. Late May 2016, according to the investigators, Messrs Tanatarov and Aytugan established a terrorist group. Several days later, the two companions recruited one more supporter, the 18-year-old Sultan Kabiyev.
The three individuals planned an armed assault on the Pallada weapons store to obtain firearms. To fulfil their plans, they launched propaganda among their friends and acquaintances—mainly those who are engaged in trading with used cellular phones, whom they met at various religious events before. In two days only, according to the investigators, they were able to involve 44 individuals.
On June 5, Mr Tanatarov invited his supporters to a rented flat to supposedly celebrate the birth of a child. When all the invited 47 individuals were there, Messrs Tanatarov, Aytugan and Kabiyev informed them of the real reason for gathering—launching jihad, which could be waged without leaving the country.
They listened to a lecture entitled “So the survivor is the one who survived in complete clarity” by Abu Mohamad al-Adnani, preacher for IS (a banned terrorist organisation), in Russian translation from Arabic. Mr Tanatarov continued the sermon, saying to those present that local law-enforcement agencies are “persecuting Muslim brothers, raping the believing sisters,” and urged them to kill law-enforcement officers in Aktobe.
Of those present, 22 individuals refused to partake in “jihad” and left the flat (they are now charged with concealing the assault plans). Those who stayed elected Mr Tanatarov as the emir of this terrorist group, at the proposal of Mr Aytugan, and agreed to launch a “holy war” instead of celebrating the birth of the aforementioned child. Further, according to the indictment, following brief consultations, the group “attacked the Pallada weapons store armed with weapons they already possessed in order to disrupt public security and terrorise the population, in accordance with a premeditated criminal plan.” Having obtained firearms [presumably: from Pallada], the jihadis attacked a military unit; they were then planning to storm Prison КА 168/2. But their plans were thwarted.
The trial of attack participants started on October 18. A total of nine surviving terrorists are being tried, while 21 are charged with concealment.
Perhaps the judge and prosecutors could explain how one person could convince 22 individuals, in just a couple of hours, to a practical implementation of terrorists attacks; however, the trial is being held behind closed doors.
At the same time, the Prosecutor General’s Office launched an investigation into the actions of the Aktobe police administration. A local newspaper cites Interfax-Kazakhtan, reporting head of the local police directorate is charged with inaction during the extremists’ attack.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Under Secretary Shannon Travels to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistanhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3157<p><div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/shennon.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"><div class="imagePreviewText">Томас Шеннон</div></div>U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon will visit <b>Kazakhstan</b>, <b>Kyrgyzstan</b>, and <b>Uzbekistan</b>, October 24–29. This will be Under Secretary Shannon’s first visit to Central Asia. Under Secretary Shannon will commemorate each state’s 25 year anniversary of independence and highlight the strong and growing partnerships between the Central Asian states and the U.S. government through Secretary Kerry’s C5+1 initiative, a platform for discussion and joint regional action on issues of common interest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On October 24, Under Secretary Shannon will travel to Astana, Kazakhstan where he will meet with government officials and alumni of U.S. exchange programs. He will also visit the 2017 EXPO site and tour Kazakhstan’s National Museum. In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, October 26–27, Under Secretary Shannon will meet with government officials, members of parliament, and civil society leaders. He will speak at the American University of Central Asia, meet with the university’s C5+1 Youth Council representatives, and visit the Urkun Memorial. Finally, Under Secretary Shannon will travel to Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan to meet with senior government officials, business and civil society leaders, and visit several cultural heritage sites, including the Registan and the burial site of former president Islam Karimov.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Through Under Secretary Shannon’s trip, the United States looks forward to strengthening durable government-to-government and people-to-people ties with Central Asia.</p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyFri, 21 Oct 2016 14:29:00 +0300<div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/shennon.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"><div class="imagePreviewText">Томас Шеннон</div></div>U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon will visit <b>Kazakhstan</b>, <b>Kyrgyzstan</b>, and <b>Uzbekistan</b>, October 24–29. This will be Under Secretary Shannon’s first visit to Central Asia. Under Secretary Shannon will commemorate each state’s 25 year anniversary of independence and highlight the strong and growing partnerships between the Central Asian states and the U.S. government through Secretary Kerry’s C5+1 initiative, a platform for discussion and joint regional action on issues of common interest.
On October 24, Under Secretary Shannon will travel to Astana, Kazakhstan where he will meet with government officials and alumni of U.S. exchange programs. He will also visit the 2017 EXPO site and tour Kazakhstan’s National Museum. In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, October 26–27, Under Secretary Shannon will meet with government officials, members of parliament, and civil society leaders. He will speak at the American University of Central Asia, meet with the university’s C5+1 Youth Council representatives, and visit the Urkun Memorial. Finally, Under Secretary Shannon will travel to Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan to meet with senior government officials, business and civil society leaders, and visit several cultural heritage sites, including the Registan and the burial site of former president Islam Karimov.
Through Under Secretary Shannon’s trip, the United States looks forward to strengthening durable government-to-government and people-to-people ties with Central Asia.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Spaceman Salijan Sharipov: “Uzbek separatism” claims are “abominable lie”http://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3156<p>Spaceman Salijan Sharipov, a national hero of the Russian Federation, responded in an interview with Fergana to attacks by Jyldyzkan Joldosheva, an ex-MP known for her nationalist and racist statements. </p>
<p><img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/saljol1.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Jyldyzkan Joldosheva (l); Salijan Sharipov</font><br /> </p>
<p>Ms Joldosheva held a <a href=http://kyrtag.kg/society/v-kyrgyzstane-separatisty-snova-podnimayut-golovy-zholdosheva/ target=_blank>news conference</a> in Bishkek on October 18, where she alleged that Kadyrjan Batyrov, one of the leaders of the Uzbek community of Kyrgyzstan, is gathering likeminded supporters and preparing new disorders in Kyrgyzstan. </p>
<p>The former MP believes Mr Batyrov illegally acquired 70 per cent of all assets and real estate properties in Jalal-Abad Region during ex-President Askar Akayev’s term in office. Following the tragic events in Southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, Mr Batyrov fled the country and, according to Ms Joldosheva, now lives in Sweden, wanders around the world and gathering likeminded supporters to again incite an interethnic massacre.</p>
<p>Ms Joldosheva has stated the rich ethnic Uzbeks originally from Kyrgyzstan have organised some sort of a union. “Spaceman Salijan Sharipov is heading this union. He has registered all of Separatist No 1 Kadyrjan Batyrov’s property under his own name,” Ms Joldosheva has stated. “Kadyrjan Batyrov, Alisher Sabirov, Azimjan Askarov and others are members of this union. Why did Sharipov register Batyrov’s property under his name? What should he be called after this?”</p>
<p>Commenting on Ms Joldosheva’s statements, Mr Sharipov told Fergana that such thoughts are fruits of her wicked imagination. </p>
<p>“I have an official document issued by the department of state property of Jalal-Abad Region, which states that I do not own any property on the territory of this region,” Spaceman Sharipov has said.</p>
<p><b>How truthful is Joldosheva’s claim that you and Kadyrjan Batyrov have established some type of union of ethnic Uzbeks?</b></p>
<p>“It is an abominable lie and provocation, which I don’t want to even speak about. I maintain relations with Kadyrjan Batyrov in the same way I do with my other friends and acquaintances. But I am outside of politics, I have enough work as is.”</p>
<p><b>What do you think of her “discovery” – you communicate with imprisoned Azimjan Askarov via Skype?</b></p>
<p>“She would be better off thinking before saying something like this. First, how could Askarov have access to the Internet when he is an inmate imprisoned for life? Second, having said these words, Joldosheva insulted the officers of the criminal penalty system by doubting their professionalism. And, finally, I am not personally familiar with Askarov. Yes, I did hear about him and know about his situation. But I didn’t have an opportunity to talk to him.”</p>
<p><b>Are you planning to take any action in response to Joldosheva’s statements?</b></p>
<p>“Why should I react to her in the first place? Who is she anyway? For me, she is nobody. I think she needs to see physicians who specialise in a certain field of healthcare.” </p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
<p></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyThu, 20 Oct 2016 22:42:04 +0300Spaceman Salijan Sharipov, a national hero of the Russian Federation, responded in an interview with Fergana to attacks by Jyldyzkan Joldosheva, an ex-MP known for her nationalist and racist statements.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/saljol1.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Jyldyzkan Joldosheva (l); Salijan Sharipov</font><br />
Ms Joldosheva held a <a href=http://kyrtag.kg/society/v-kyrgyzstane-separatisty-snova-podnimayut-golovy-zholdosheva/ target=_blank>news conference</a> in Bishkek on October 18, where she alleged that Kadyrjan Batyrov, one of the leaders of the Uzbek community of Kyrgyzstan, is gathering likeminded supporters and preparing new disorders in Kyrgyzstan.
The former MP believes Mr Batyrov illegally acquired 70 per cent of all assets and real estate properties in Jalal-Abad Region during ex-President Askar Akayev’s term in office. Following the tragic events in Southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, Mr Batyrov fled the country and, according to Ms Joldosheva, now lives in Sweden, wanders around the world and gathering likeminded supporters to again incite an interethnic massacre.
Ms Joldosheva has stated the rich ethnic Uzbeks originally from Kyrgyzstan have organised some sort of a union. “Spaceman Salijan Sharipov is heading this union. He has registered all of Separatist No 1 Kadyrjan Batyrov’s property under his own name,” Ms Joldosheva has stated. “Kadyrjan Batyrov, Alisher Sabirov, Azimjan Askarov and others are members of this union. Why did Sharipov register Batyrov’s property under his name? What should he be called after this?”
Commenting on Ms Joldosheva’s statements, Mr Sharipov told Fergana that such thoughts are fruits of her wicked imagination.
“I have an official document issued by the department of state property of Jalal-Abad Region, which states that I do not own any property on the territory of this region,” Spaceman Sharipov has said.
<b>How truthful is Joldosheva’s claim that you and Kadyrjan Batyrov have established some type of union of ethnic Uzbeks?</b>
“It is an abominable lie and provocation, which I don’t want to even speak about. I maintain relations with Kadyrjan Batyrov in the same way I do with my other friends and acquaintances. But I am outside of politics, I have enough work as is.”
<b>What do you think of her “discovery” – you communicate with imprisoned Azimjan Askarov via Skype?</b>
“She would be better off thinking before saying something like this. First, how could Askarov have access to the Internet when he is an inmate imprisoned for life? Second, having said these words, Joldosheva insulted the officers of the criminal penalty system by doubting their professionalism. And, finally, I am not personally familiar with Askarov. Yes, I did hear about him and know about his situation. But I didn’t have an opportunity to talk to him.”
<b>Are you planning to take any action in response to Joldosheva’s statements?</b>
“Why should I react to her in the first place? Who is she anyway? For me, she is nobody. I think she needs to see physicians who specialise in a certain field of healthcare.”
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>
Rights advocate sues Kyrgyz president at Supreme Court http://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3155<p>Tolekan Ismailova, head of the <b>Bir Duyno-Kyrgyzstan</b> human rights defence movement, filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan on October 19 against the rulings of lower courts as well as insulting statements she alleges President Almazbek Atambayev made.</p>
<p><img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/tolek1.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">A fragment of the complaint Tolekan Ismailova filed</font><br /></p>
<p>In the complaint [PDF, Russian], Ms. Ismailova included four requests:</p>
<p>- cancelling the decision of the Pervomay District Court of Bishkek and ruling of the Bishkek City Court, which ruled to overrule a lawsuit Ms. Ismailova and her colleage Aziza Abdirasulova filed with said courts;</p>
<p>- recognizing President Almazbek Atambayev’s May 14 statements regarding Ms Ismailova as untrue, defaming her honour and dignity and smearing the professional reputation of the Bir Duyno-Kyrgyzstan movement;</p>
<p>- recognizing President Atambayev’s statements as moral and psychological pressure on Ms Ismailova, her family and friends, which created hindrances in her and her movement’s work; and</p>
<p>- obligating President Atambayev to refute own statements and publicly apologise to Ms Ismailova as well as collecting 10m Kyrgyz soms (USD146,500) for moral damages.</p>
<p>Aziza Abdirasulova, head of the Kylym Shamy human rights organisation, told Fergana that she is planning to complete the process of lodging her lawsuit with the Suprmem Court by late October. </p>
<p>Background: Speaking at a ceremony on the Mothers’ Day on May 14, President Almazbek Atambayev said Ms. Ismailova and Ms. Abdirasulova “loyally work for their foreign grants.” The two rights advocates demanded public apologies and 10m soms compensation each for tarnished reputations. However, courts of first and second instances threw out their lawsuits.</p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyThu, 20 Oct 2016 21:20:00 +0300Tolekan Ismailova, head of the <b>Bir Duyno-Kyrgyzstan</b> human rights defence movement, filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan on October 19 against the rulings of lower courts as well as insulting statements she alleges President Almazbek Atambayev made.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/tolek1.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">A fragment of the complaint Tolekan Ismailova filed</font><br />
In the complaint [PDF, Russian], Ms. Ismailova included four requests:
- cancelling the decision of the Pervomay District Court of Bishkek and ruling of the Bishkek City Court, which ruled to overrule a lawsuit Ms. Ismailova and her colleage Aziza Abdirasulova filed with said courts;
- recognizing President Almazbek Atambayev’s May 14 statements regarding Ms Ismailova as untrue, defaming her honour and dignity and smearing the professional reputation of the Bir Duyno-Kyrgyzstan movement;
- recognizing President Atambayev’s statements as moral and psychological pressure on Ms Ismailova, her family and friends, which created hindrances in her and her movement’s work; and
- obligating President Atambayev to refute own statements and publicly apologise to Ms Ismailova as well as collecting 10m Kyrgyz soms (USD146,500) for moral damages.
Aziza Abdirasulova, head of the Kylym Shamy human rights organisation, told Fergana that she is planning to complete the process of lodging her lawsuit with the Suprmem Court by late October.
Background: Speaking at a ceremony on the Mothers’ Day on May 14, President Almazbek Atambayev said Ms. Ismailova and Ms. Abdirasulova “loyally work for their foreign grants.” The two rights advocates demanded public apologies and 10m soms compensation each for tarnished reputations. However, courts of first and second instances threw out their lawsuits.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Uzbek nat’l security body: Border guards use weapon 16 times in Septemberhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3154<p><div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/granica1.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"></div>The border guards of <b>Uzbekistan</b> had to use weapons 16 times last month, <i>Sputnik</i> reports, citing its source in the Committee for State Borders Protection under the National Security Service (CSBP NSS).</p>
<p>Eleven cases of weapons use took place on the border with Kyrgyzstan, three times on the Uzbek-Kazakh border and one time each in areas close to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Border violators’ alleged refusal to obey border guards’ lawful demands is reported as the reason for using weapons.</p>
<p>Also, the Uzbek border guards detained 170 violators of the national borders: 76 cases on the border with Kyrgyzstan, 75 cases near Kazakhstan, and 10 and 9 in areas close to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, respectively.</p>
<p>The source has also said the Uzbek border guards thwarted 67 attempts to illegally import various goods and materially valuable items in September, of which 66 cases took place on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border, totaling 730m Uzbek soums (USD235.500 and USD112,000 at the official and black market exchange rates, respectively). The only other case of illegal contraband worth 4m soums (USD1,290 and USD615) took place on the border with Tajikistan last month. In addition, contrabands of 13.5 kg of illicit drugs, including 8.6 kg of raw opium, were thwarted on the border with Tajikistan; 4.9 kg of raw opium were seized on the border with Afghanistan.</p>
<p>It is noteworthy that CSBP NSS does not issue such information frequently or regularly; however, even one month’s work allows estimating the level of tensions on the Uzbek borderlines.</p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyThu, 20 Oct 2016 20:29:01 +0300<div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/granica1.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"></div>The border guards of <b>Uzbekistan</b> had to use weapons 16 times last month, <i>Sputnik</i> reports, citing its source in the Committee for State Borders Protection under the National Security Service (CSBP NSS).
Eleven cases of weapons use took place on the border with Kyrgyzstan, three times on the Uzbek-Kazakh border and one time each in areas close to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Border violators’ alleged refusal to obey border guards’ lawful demands is reported as the reason for using weapons.
Also, the Uzbek border guards detained 170 violators of the national borders: 76 cases on the border with Kyrgyzstan, 75 cases near Kazakhstan, and 10 and 9 in areas close to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, respectively.
The source has also said the Uzbek border guards thwarted 67 attempts to illegally import various goods and materially valuable items in September, of which 66 cases took place on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border, totaling 730m Uzbek soums (USD235.500 and USD112,000 at the official and black market exchange rates, respectively). The only other case of illegal contraband worth 4m soums (USD1,290 and USD615) took place on the border with Tajikistan last month. In addition, contrabands of 13.5 kg of illicit drugs, including 8.6 kg of raw opium, were thwarted on the border with Tajikistan; 4.9 kg of raw opium were seized on the border with Afghanistan.
It is noteworthy that CSBP NSS does not issue such information frequently or regularly; however, even one month’s work allows estimating the level of tensions on the Uzbek borderlines.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Financial Times: Donald Trump involved in laundering Almaty Ex-Mayor Viktor Khrapunov’s ‘dirty’ moneyhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3153<p><div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2012/11/hrapunov.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"><div class="imagePreviewText">Viktor Khrapunov</div></div>Journalists of <b>Financial Times</b> uncovered links tying the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to laundering money and “dirty” financial schemes in his companies and business entities, which allegedly used the monies of Viktor Khrapunov, the former mayor of Almaty, <b>Kazakhstan</b>. The newspaper’s <a href=https://www.ft.com/content/33285dfa-9231-11e6-8df8-d3778b55a923 target=_blank>investigation</a> shows this Kazakh official’s family has purchased luxurious apartments in an apartments tower co-owned by Donald Trump and currently has relations with one of his partners, Bayrock Company. The Kazakh authorities are charging Mr Khrapunov with power abuse and embezzlement of hundreds of millions of US dollars from the state budget.</p>
<p>“Mr Khrapunov and his family conspired to systematically embezzle hundreds of millions of [US] dollars-worth state assets… and launder the monies obtained in unfair ways via a complex network of bank accounts and shell companies, include those in the USA,” the newspaper quotes some Kazakh lawyers as saying. Among the tens of companies involved in the money-laundering network, Soho 3310, Soho 3311 and Soho 3203 are given particular attention. Each of these enterprises were limited liability companies and their property could easily be concealed. The companies were all established in New York in April 2013, and only a week later they paid a total of USD3.1m to purchase apartments in the Trump Soho luxurious 46-storey hotel-condominium in an upscale corner of Manhattan. </p>
<p>The final beneficiary of Soho was Elvira Kudryashova, Mr Khrapunov’s daughter who lives in California. Ms Kudryashova and her brother Ilyas are key links in the money-laundering network, the newspaper continues. More than USD3.1m were transferred from Ms Kudryashova’s account to the account of New York-based lawyer Martin Jajan’s firm’s accounts shortly before the companies purchased the apartment.</p>
<p>At a glance, Mr Trump is not directly involved in the sale of real estate to Mr Khrapunov’s family: Bayrock/Sapir Organization LLC was the other seller. This company was founded by the late Georgian businessman Tamir Sapir and Tevfik Arif, an American magnate who was born in Kazakhstan and was a Soviet official. Nonetheless, according to founding documents, Mr Trump is considered the third co-owner of this company because he licensed the project to utilize his personal brand. Based on this, Donald Trump received 18 per cent of profit Trump Soho made in 2014.</p>
<p>The FT quoted Alan Garten, the Trump Orgnisation’s general counsel, as saying denying any links between Messrs Trump and Khrapunov, stating the billionaire had no business with the ex-mayor or his family. The representative of the Khrapunovs, on the other hand, refused to answer FT’s questions, stating, “all business activities of the Khrapunov family are held in complete accordance with the laws of Switzerland,” where he now lives. However, there are facts that speak to partnership relations between Mr Trump and his partners with Mr Khrapunov’s businesses. For instance, Bayrock took part in redesigning of Hotel Du Parc on the banks of Lake Geneva owned by Swiss Development Group, a company Ilyas Khrapunov owns.</p>
<p>Background: Viktor Khrapunov was Almaty Mayor between 1997 and 2004. He reportedly helped his wife Leyla to become rich using his position. For instance, the Khrapunovs usurped over 70 land lots and buildings in protected areas and obtained a USD250m profit. The Khrapunov family members transferred the monies received as part of such illegal deals to Swiss and offshore accounts. A total of 20 criminal investigations have been launched in Mr Khrapunov’s activities in Kazakhstan. Viktor and Leyla Khrapunovs are included in Interpol lists.</p>
<p>Mr. Khrapunov was fired from the position of the minister of emergencies on November 1, 2007, charged with illegal allocation of land lot. The Khrapunovs emigrated to Switzerland in April 2008. In December 2009, the Bilan magazine included Mr Khrapunov into the list of 300 richest residents of Switzerland whose capital was estimated at USD400m at the time. Other members of the Khrapunov family—son Ilyas, daughter Elvira and wife Leyla—were included into said list in 2011.</p>
<p>The Swiss authorities launched an investigation into financial operations of Mr Khrapunov and his family for potential money laundering transactions in November 2012. The Khrapunovs argue they are victims of “political vengeance” because they are categorised “political opponents.”</p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
<p></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyThu, 20 Oct 2016 16:03:03 +0300<div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2012/11/hrapunov.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"><div class="imagePreviewText">Viktor Khrapunov</div></div>Journalists of <b>Financial Times</b> uncovered links tying the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to laundering money and “dirty” financial schemes in his companies and business entities, which allegedly used the monies of Viktor Khrapunov, the former mayor of Almaty, <b>Kazakhstan</b>. The newspaper’s <a href=https://www.ft.com/content/33285dfa-9231-11e6-8df8-d3778b55a923 target=_blank>investigation</a> shows this Kazakh official’s family has purchased luxurious apartments in an apartments tower co-owned by Donald Trump and currently has relations with one of his partners, Bayrock Company. The Kazakh authorities are charging Mr Khrapunov with power abuse and embezzlement of hundreds of millions of US dollars from the state budget.
“Mr Khrapunov and his family conspired to systematically embezzle hundreds of millions of [US] dollars-worth state assets… and launder the monies obtained in unfair ways via a complex network of bank accounts and shell companies, include those in the USA,” the newspaper quotes some Kazakh lawyers as saying. Among the tens of companies involved in the money-laundering network, Soho 3310, Soho 3311 and Soho 3203 are given particular attention. Each of these enterprises were limited liability companies and their property could easily be concealed. The companies were all established in New York in April 2013, and only a week later they paid a total of USD3.1m to purchase apartments in the Trump Soho luxurious 46-storey hotel-condominium in an upscale corner of Manhattan.
The final beneficiary of Soho was Elvira Kudryashova, Mr Khrapunov’s daughter who lives in California. Ms Kudryashova and her brother Ilyas are key links in the money-laundering network, the newspaper continues. More than USD3.1m were transferred from Ms Kudryashova’s account to the account of New York-based lawyer Martin Jajan’s firm’s accounts shortly before the companies purchased the apartment.
At a glance, Mr Trump is not directly involved in the sale of real estate to Mr Khrapunov’s family: Bayrock/Sapir Organization LLC was the other seller. This company was founded by the late Georgian businessman Tamir Sapir and Tevfik Arif, an American magnate who was born in Kazakhstan and was a Soviet official. Nonetheless, according to founding documents, Mr Trump is considered the third co-owner of this company because he licensed the project to utilize his personal brand. Based on this, Donald Trump received 18 per cent of profit Trump Soho made in 2014.
The FT quoted Alan Garten, the Trump Orgnisation’s general counsel, as saying denying any links between Messrs Trump and Khrapunov, stating the billionaire had no business with the ex-mayor or his family. The representative of the Khrapunovs, on the other hand, refused to answer FT’s questions, stating, “all business activities of the Khrapunov family are held in complete accordance with the laws of Switzerland,” where he now lives. However, there are facts that speak to partnership relations between Mr Trump and his partners with Mr Khrapunov’s businesses. For instance, Bayrock took part in redesigning of Hotel Du Parc on the banks of Lake Geneva owned by Swiss Development Group, a company Ilyas Khrapunov owns.
Background: Viktor Khrapunov was Almaty Mayor between 1997 and 2004. He reportedly helped his wife Leyla to become rich using his position. For instance, the Khrapunovs usurped over 70 land lots and buildings in protected areas and obtained a USD250m profit. The Khrapunov family members transferred the monies received as part of such illegal deals to Swiss and offshore accounts. A total of 20 criminal investigations have been launched in Mr Khrapunov’s activities in Kazakhstan. Viktor and Leyla Khrapunovs are included in Interpol lists.
Mr. Khrapunov was fired from the position of the minister of emergencies on November 1, 2007, charged with illegal allocation of land lot. The Khrapunovs emigrated to Switzerland in April 2008. In December 2009, the Bilan magazine included Mr Khrapunov into the list of 300 richest residents of Switzerland whose capital was estimated at USD400m at the time. Other members of the Khrapunov family—son Ilyas, daughter Elvira and wife Leyla—were included into said list in 2011.
The Swiss authorities launched an investigation into financial operations of Mr Khrapunov and his family for potential money laundering transactions in November 2012. The Khrapunovs argue they are victims of “political vengeance” because they are categorised “political opponents.”
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>
Kazakh ministries ban wearing the headscarf (hijab) in education institutionshttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3152<p><div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/hijab1.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"></div>Three ministries of Kazakhstan simultaneously banned wearing the headscarf in education institutions on 19 Oct 2016, Deputy Minister of Education Elmira Sukhanberdiyeva told a special briefing in Astana.</p>
<p>The discussion of common school uniforms was launched by the ministry of education and science, the ministry of religious affairs and civil society as well as the ministry of justice in response to concerns some of schoolchildren’s parents voiced regarding the violation of common school uniforms in some schools as well as some schoolgirls wearing headscarves during classes.</p>
<p>An information <a href=http://edu.gov.kz/ru/news/informatsionnie-soobshcheniya/vitse-ministri-ministerstva-obrazovaniya-i-nauki-rk-ministerstva-po-delam-religii-i-grazhdanskogo-obshchestva-ministerstva-ustitsii-zayavili-o-strogo-svetskom-haraktere-shkolnoi-formi target=_blank>dispatch</a> the ministry of education circulated indicates neither direct nor indirect proselyting of any religion is unacceptable in schools.</p>
<p>Deputy Minister Sukhanberdiyeva told the briefing, “Wearing religious attributes, clothes, headgear (hijabs, yarmulke) is not allowed nor has it been allowed in the past.”</p>
<p>Not even a single Kazakh law prohibited wearing religious attributes and attire until the ministry of education enforced common school uniforms throughout the country based on a decree issued on 14 Jan 2016. Education institutions used to regulate the outfits of schoolchildren in accordance with internal rules. </p>
<p>Several discussions took place on the rights of citizens to wear religious attributes in education institutions. For instance, a scandal broke out in the city of Semey in the autumn of 2015, when a 15-year-old was not allowed to take classes at the elite Nazarbayev Intellectual School wearing a headscarf. Her parents were eventually able to secure permission to attend classes with the schoolgirl’s head covered with a scarf.</p>
<p>No such issues should arise now, the education ministry’s press release reads in part. The new list of permitted on school grounds is quite limited: jacket, pants, dress shirt, regular shirt, skirt and classic blouse (sarafans and turtlenecks for winter). </p>
<p>The representative of the education ministry also shed light on what actions school administrations would undertake in case a schoolchild comes to school wearing a hijab or any other religious attire.</p>
<p>“If a child comes [to school] in religious clothing, their parents will be given a notice [presumably: of violation]. I was often asked, ‘A child comes to school no matter what. Will you drive him out?’ Of course we would not drive that child out. We will invite their parent so they come to school and take off that particular attribute, and the child will carry on with school,” <i>KazInform</i> quotes the deputy minister as saying.</p>
<p>A new wave concern among the authorities is most likely linked with attacks by religious extremists in Aktobe and Almaty this past summer as well as a number of arrests of members of banned religious organisations in Kazakhstan. In addition to this, there are up to 15,000 Salafism adherents in Kazakhstan, according to Galym Shoykin, the chairman of the committee for religious affairs under the Culture and Sports Ministry.</p>
<p>According to findings, the school uniforms are implemented in over 5,000 schools attended by 76.2 per cent of all schoolchildren in the country.</p>
<p><b>Own information</b></p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
<p></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyWed, 19 Oct 2016 21:10:00 +0300<div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/hijab1.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"></div>Three ministries of Kazakhstan simultaneously banned wearing the headscarf in education institutions on 19 Oct 2016, Deputy Minister of Education Elmira Sukhanberdiyeva told a special briefing in Astana.
The discussion of common school uniforms was launched by the ministry of education and science, the ministry of religious affairs and civil society as well as the ministry of justice in response to concerns some of schoolchildren’s parents voiced regarding the violation of common school uniforms in some schools as well as some schoolgirls wearing headscarves during classes.
An information <a href=http://edu.gov.kz/ru/news/informatsionnie-soobshcheniya/vitse-ministri-ministerstva-obrazovaniya-i-nauki-rk-ministerstva-po-delam-religii-i-grazhdanskogo-obshchestva-ministerstva-ustitsii-zayavili-o-strogo-svetskom-haraktere-shkolnoi-formi target=_blank>dispatch</a> the ministry of education circulated indicates neither direct nor indirect proselyting of any religion is unacceptable in schools.
Deputy Minister Sukhanberdiyeva told the briefing, “Wearing religious attributes, clothes, headgear (hijabs, yarmulke) is not allowed nor has it been allowed in the past.”
Not even a single Kazakh law prohibited wearing religious attributes and attire until the ministry of education enforced common school uniforms throughout the country based on a decree issued on 14 Jan 2016. Education institutions used to regulate the outfits of schoolchildren in accordance with internal rules.
Several discussions took place on the rights of citizens to wear religious attributes in education institutions. For instance, a scandal broke out in the city of Semey in the autumn of 2015, when a 15-year-old was not allowed to take classes at the elite Nazarbayev Intellectual School wearing a headscarf. Her parents were eventually able to secure permission to attend classes with the schoolgirl’s head covered with a scarf.
No such issues should arise now, the education ministry’s press release reads in part. The new list of permitted on school grounds is quite limited: jacket, pants, dress shirt, regular shirt, skirt and classic blouse (sarafans and turtlenecks for winter).
The representative of the education ministry also shed light on what actions school administrations would undertake in case a schoolchild comes to school wearing a hijab or any other religious attire.
“If a child comes [to school] in religious clothing, their parents will be given a notice [presumably: of violation]. I was often asked, ‘A child comes to school no matter what. Will you drive him out?’ Of course we would not drive that child out. We will invite their parent so they come to school and take off that particular attribute, and the child will carry on with school,” <i>KazInform</i> quotes the deputy minister as saying.
A new wave concern among the authorities is most likely linked with attacks by religious extremists in Aktobe and Almaty this past summer as well as a number of arrests of members of banned religious organisations in Kazakhstan. In addition to this, there are up to 15,000 Salafism adherents in Kazakhstan, according to Galym Shoykin, the chairman of the committee for religious affairs under the Culture and Sports Ministry.
According to findings, the school uniforms are implemented in over 5,000 schools attended by 76.2 per cent of all schoolchildren in the country.
<b>Own information</b>
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>
Tajikistan, China to hold large-scale anti-terror drill in Pamirhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=3151<p><div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2015/09/nazarz1.jpg " alt="" class="imagePreview"></div>Several divisions of the defence ministry of Tajikistan and the People’s Liberation Army of China will participate in large-scale anti-terror military exercises in Ishkashim District in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), which borders on Afghanistan, on 20-24 Oct 2016. Some 10,000 servicemen will be engaged in the drills, <i>Asia-Plus</i> reports citing the Tajik defence ministry.</p>
<p>Aviation, armoured carriers and artillery will be involved in said military exercises. The goal of the exercises is to rehearse coordination of response in case the threat of rebel infiltration from Afghanistan into Tajikistan or China arises given the unstable situation in the neighbouring country. Ishkashim District was chosen for the anti-terror exercises because it shares an extended borderline with Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan, where a large number of fighters from various extremist and terrorist groups are concentrating lately.</p>
<p>The two countries’ army generals, regional administrations, interior affairs directorates and the committee for emergencies will monitor the tactical manoeuvres.</p>
<p><i>Background:</i> Tajik and Chinese armies previously held other joint military exercises in the past. In June 2015, special operations forces trained in repelling an attack by conditional terrorists who broke through into Tajikistan from Afghanistan, according to drill scripts. Some 250 special operations officers of Tajik police and the Chinese ministry of public security participated in those exercises last year.</p>
<p><a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font></p>
Ferghana.Ru news agencyWed, 19 Oct 2016 21:02:02 +0300<div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2015/09/nazarz1.jpg " alt="" class="imagePreview"></div>Several divisions of the defence ministry of Tajikistan and the People’s Liberation Army of China will participate in large-scale anti-terror military exercises in Ishkashim District in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), which borders on Afghanistan, on 20-24 Oct 2016. Some 10,000 servicemen will be engaged in the drills, <i>Asia-Plus</i> reports citing the Tajik defence ministry.
Aviation, armoured carriers and artillery will be involved in said military exercises. The goal of the exercises is to rehearse coordination of response in case the threat of rebel infiltration from Afghanistan into Tajikistan or China arises given the unstable situation in the neighbouring country. Ishkashim District was chosen for the anti-terror exercises because it shares an extended borderline with Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan, where a large number of fighters from various extremist and terrorist groups are concentrating lately.
The two countries’ army generals, regional administrations, interior affairs directorates and the committee for emergencies will monitor the tactical manoeuvres.
<i>Background:</i> Tajik and Chinese armies previously held other joint military exercises in the past. In June 2015, special operations forces trained in repelling an attack by conditional terrorists who broke through into Tajikistan from Afghanistan, according to drill scripts. Some 250 special operations officers of Tajik police and the Chinese ministry of public security participated in those exercises last year.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Public politics gradually emerging in Uzbekistan. What’s next—freedom of speech?http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2974Following the death of the first president of Uzbekistan, the public learnt there are other orators and politicians in Uzbekistan alongside the late head of state. The Uzbek population, as well as the greater world, is learning day by day about new faces and names. Perhaps Uzbek citizens will start recognizing their politicians just as well as they know the names of Russian politicians. Until only a couple of months ago the word combination <i>an Uzbek politician</i> would invoke almost only one association—President Islam Karimov—in Uzbek citizens’ mindsBy Feruza JaniSun, 30 Oct 2016 10:26:00 +0300Following the death of the first president of Uzbekistan, the public learnt there are other orators and politicians in Uzbekistan alongside the late head of state. The Uzbek population, as well as the greater world, is learning day by day about new faces and names. Perhaps Uzbek citizens will start recognizing their politicians just as well as they know the names of Russian politicians. Until only a couple of months ago the word combination <i>an Uzbek politician</i> would invoke almost only one association—President Islam Karimov—in Uzbek citizens’ minds.
For instance, Uzbek delegations would virtually never be associated with heads’ and members’ names, save for occasional mentions of Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov or First Deputy Premier Rustam Azimov. But now names are finding their ways even into news headlines: “Vice PM Adham Ikramov to head Uzbekistan delegation to Osh,” “Deputy Premier Ulugbek Rozulukov to participate in CIS head of governments meeting,” or “Abduhakimov, WB discuss employment support programme.”
I don’t remember seeing such a headline while Karimov was still alive. Well, with rare exceptions for Rustam Azimov. As a rule, during Karimov’s time, the mass media outlets would only be allowed to paraphrase the Uzbek leadership’s position in headlines, e.g. The Roghun project findings are unacceptable. If someone can find a link to a headline that explicitly includes the name of Shavkat Mirziyoyev—yes, even the name of the premier who has been in office for 13 years—as well as a statement he has made up until September 2016, I would be very grateful.
The pre-electoral presidential campaigns are also pleasantly surprising. This time around mass media are covering the candidates’ statements a lot more than during the previous operations to legitimise the “indispensable” head of state at the time. Even though the other candidates’ statements are incomparable to those of Shavkat Mirziyoyev—wink, nudge—these candidates’ faces will now be recognised by more citizens, which is a beneficial factor in society’s development.
As of this writing, Milliy Tiklanish Party nominee is the most often mentioned among the three candidates: [Candidate] Sarvar Otamuratov: Defending national interests and values; [Candidate] Otamuratov: Many issues in implementing the Latin alphabet; or [Candidate] Otamuratov proposes banning sale of energy drinks among youth…
The Popular Democratic Party of Uzbekistan Hotamjon Ketmonov’s has other priorities he is advancing: solving unemployment, healthcare in the countryside, fixing sidewalks and building bicycle lanes. Meanwhile, the Adolat Party nominee, Nariman Umarov, is in no hurry to make statements just yet. The Uzbek mass media have only mentioned his name while covering his party’s session, where and when he was nominated for president. On the other hand, given that the pre-electoral campaign just launched on October 28, he still has time to surprise us.
As far as the main and realistically potential presidential candidate is concerned, his PR team deserves praises. The team is creating the image of an energetic and industrious person who wants to and knows how to solve the population’s problems and bring order among officials. Maybe he is the person they are trying to convince us he is. One only wishes what he is doing now is not only to win over the electorate; one’s hopes go even higher given almost nothing depends on the latter. That said, where was this leader-Mirziyoyev with his such wonderful qualities over the 13 years of his premiership?..
The Uzbek mass media are happily reporting how the acting president/Prime Minister’s virtual reception office is receiving tens of thousands complaints. However, this is not a reason for joy: the top official is receiving requests to have a lift repaired, a vehicle fixed, assign public benefits, ensure the supply of electricity and gas, install a traffic light, etc.…
The majority of these problems have been around for a long time and have not been resolved over many years, including those when Mirziyoyev was the second-most-important official in Uzbekistan. Was the first-most-important person really responsible for all these tens of thousands of problems over the last two-and-half decades?
Wait a minute… No need to ask such questions! And to make sure the minds are not disturbed by such thoughts and doubts, Mirziyoyev always mentions the late president with kind words in his speeches. He promises to “firmly and strictly follow his instructions: the leader is obligated to spare no strength or energy in order to live for the interests of the country and population so they can fulfil aspirations and achieve dreams.” And then suddenly he declares, “It is now time for state bodies to serve the people and not for the people to serve the state bodies,” and/or “the style of work the majority of state bodies employ does not meet modern requirements.”
Here is yet another admission: “The main reason causing deficiencies is directly related to the process of selecting, preparing and appointing employees. So long as there is no system of selecting and preparing cadres who are independent, responsible, industrious, masters of up-to-date management skills, patriotic and honest, there will not be any quality improvements in state governance.” One more, “None of the [government] officials in charge is genuinely working on solving people’s grievances and problems.” By making such statements, Mirziyoyev is indirectly admitting his predecessor’s failures in governing the Uzbek state and selecting officials to do so. This proves that it is necessary to change the top echelons of power on a regular basis in Uzbekistan. To be sure, the country’s Constitution requires just that—read Article 90.
The future Uzbek president is giving hope to the population that life will get better. After all, openly stating there is a necessity to combat corruption and ensure supremacy of law is something everyone yearns for. However, the residents of Uzbekistan must also be granted the genuine freedom of speech. Building a strong, healthy and flourishing society is impossible without it.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Impunity endangers our right to knowhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2973“Over the past decade, more than 800 journalists have been killed in the line of duty, and only 8% of these cases have been resolved. These are the official figures of the Director-General of UNESCO, an organization of 195 Member States. The 92% unresolved cases tells the public that free expression is not protected. It tells them that society cannot ensure their right to information. This is why every Government must act upon its responsibility to investigate crimes against journalists. Every government has to act timely and thoroughly, if they are to set a precedent for other cases. If we allow any form of violence against journalists, we allow impunity to prevail.” - The article by Frank La Rue - UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and InformationFrank La RueTue, 25 Oct 2016 18:44:00 +0300Over the past decade, more than 800 journalists have been killed in the line of duty, and only 8% of these cases have been resolved. These are the official figures of the Director-General of UNESCO, an organization of 195 Member States.
The 92% unresolved cases tells the public that free expression is not protected. It tells them that society cannot ensure their right to information.
This is why every Government must act upon its responsibility to investigate crimes against journalists. Every government has to act timely and thoroughly, if they are to set a precedent for other cases.
If we allow any form of violence against journalists, we allow impunity to prevail.
Impunity is the failure to guarantee justice and when impunity prevails in cases of violence against journalists, as well as against human rights defenders, it is an invitation not for one, but for many more cases to occur.
This is the message we send on 2 November, International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. This is an important day, not only to commemorate and honor all those who have died in the line of duty, but also to call for justice in cases of violence and harassment against journalists. Harassment against journalists in any form must be rejected, including arbitrary arrests and verbal intimidation. Ending impunity on all of these acts is the most important step to guarantee the safety of journalists.
Protecting journalists and guaranteeing a free press is essential for the development of societies and important for every woman and man to exercise their right to access information, their right to participate as citizens in democracy, and to work for the right to development.
This is important, because we need free expression, democracy and access to information to drive more inclusive sustainable development. That is why the Sustainable Development Goals, agreed on last year by all states in the United Nations, recognized in Goal 16.10 the need to guarantee their “public access to information” for guaranteeing the achievement of the 17 Goals.
Journalism is what enables citizens to exercise their right to be informed, their right to know and their right to assure accountability of those in power.
Every time a journalist is attacked, threatened, assassinated or harassed and the case is not investigated, it is an invitation for more violence. Every time there is no justice for a journalist who is victimized, it emboldens the attackers to continue. The date of 2 November is the anniversary of the murder of two French journalists in Mali in 2013. Four years earlier, more than 30 journalists were murdered in the Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines, which has been the single deadliest attack against journalists in history. Neither case has yet been resolved.
To help secure justice for journalists, UNESCO works with judiciaries around the world, to sensitize them about the importance of cases in which journalists are killed.
UNESCO also partners with media, governments and civil society groups to also raise awareness on this issue. This action is taken forward by the UN Plan of Action for the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which calls for wide-ranging partnerships amongst interested parties and was welcomed by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution of 18 December 2013.
The 2nd of November is a day to call for justice, to fight for the safety of journalists and to end impunity. It is a day to call upon governments to respond to the cases of journalists killed, and to encourage the justice systems to conduct timely and effective investigations into the crimes committed against journalists.
Eradicating impunity for attacks on journalists is fundamental for free expression, human rights and public access to information. It’s what everyone should be calling for.
<b>Frank La Rue - UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information</b>
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Uzbekistan: Everyone, yes, everyone is picking cotton. But two women taking photos http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2972The state-run system of forced labour will further be implemented in Uzbekistan, and the Uzbek authorities will continue diligently hiding this from the World Bank and International Labour Organisation. The latter two, by the way, do not seem to be very keen to uncover and discover any violations—doing so is unnecessary at this time. This also means two genuinely human rights advocates will have to continue monitoring the situation despite problems and obstacles the local authorities continue mounting to prevent their activities. They call themselves <i>Besstrashnye</i> [The Fearless Ones]. The group includes Yelena Urlayeva, the leader of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan (HRAU), and Malohat Eshonqulova, an independent journalistFergananewsWed, 19 Oct 2016 10:42:00 +0300<b>Uzbekistan</b> is planning to decrease the amount of manual labour in agriculture, in cotton cultivation in particular, by 30 per cent. The issue was discussed in print materials distributed during the 12th International Cotton and Textile Fair recently held in Tashkent. Interestingly, three fairs ago in 2013, then-Premier Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who is currently applying every effort to get used to the presidential chair, <a href=http://www.fergananews.com/articles/7913 target=_blank>promised</a> machines would collect 80 per cent, if not 90 per cent, of all cotton crops. Not to happen. The Uzbek authorities are now less optimistic—machines will collect only 30 per cent of harvest by 2020.
This means the state-run system of forced labour will further be implemented in Uzbekistan, and the Uzbek authorities will continue diligently hiding this from the World Bank and International Labour Organisation. The latter two, by the way, do not seem to be very keen to uncover and discover any violations—doing so is unnecessary at this time.
This also means two genuinely human rights advocates will have to continue monitoring the situation despite problems and obstacles the local authorities continue mounting to prevent their activities.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta2.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Malohat Eshonqulova is pictured distributing leaflets on the prohibition of forced labour in Uzbekistan. Photo courtesy of the group Besstrashnyye [The Fearless Ones]</font><br />
They call themselves <i>Besstrashnye</i> [The Fearless Ones]. The group includes Yelena Urlayeva, the leader of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan (HRAU), and Malohat Eshonqulova, an independent journalist. Every single day they prove they deserve the title of <i>Besstrashnye</i>. They spend many hours traveling to remote areas where they are often met with slurs, arrests, searches and humiliation. But the <i>Besstrashnye</i> do not give up and continue visiting various agriculture fields throughout the country to prove to the world, the World Bank, and the International Labour Organisation that the Uzbek government is lying to them, claiming they no longer utilise forced labour and continuing to coerce the citizens into conditions of slaves by hiding behind patriotic slogans.
Mesdames Urlayeva and Eshonqulova are risking their lives while collecting simple proofs, i.e. records of conversations with and photographs of cotton pickers. In the reports they dispatch they indicate all information they have: names of places and people they interviewed or their interviewees told them about. But we will mostly omit those names to ensure safety and security of Besstashnye’s interlocutors.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta3.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Malohat Eshonqulova writing down names of interlocutors</font><br />
Having visited agriculture fields in Tashkent, Syr-Darya and Bukhara Regions, Besstashnye arrived at Pastdargom District of Samarkand Region on 12 Oct 2016. They met doctors, teachers, university and college students who were forced to abandon their daily activities and collect cotton. <i>Besstrashnye</i> emphasise the fact there are several World Bank-funded projects currently underway in said region. Obviously all of the tender documents pertaining to the World Bank prohibit the use of child and forced labour; and yet, there are hundreds of people forced to collect cotton on these fields.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta4.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">A room that teachers are living in during the cotton-picking campaign</font><br />
<i>Besstrashnye</i> report that cotton-pickers from other parts of the region spend nights in school buildings and houses of local residents; the latter are not always welcoming the tenants forced upon them. For instance, 11 female educators from the Siab Architecture College in Samarkand have been living in the house of a female resident in the village of Kavon. The house owner complained to the rights advocates that she has to sleep in the same room and they pay for neither electricity nor gas. According to her, there is no natural gas supplied to houses; resident purchase propane gas. In total, there are some 300 educators summoned to cotton fields since mid-September.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta6.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Interviewing interlocutors</font><br />
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta7.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">At a lunch break</font><br />
<i>Besstrashnye</i> not only interviewed local and visiting cotton-pickers, but also shared leaflets with information on the prohibition of forced labour.
“The daily requirement used to be 70 kg. But now the plan is 20 kg a day because this is the fourth wave of harvesting and there is no cotton on the fields. We are collecting 20-30 kg a day,” two female cotton-pickers told the human rights advocates. They also said they were hired for 20,000 soums (6.6USD at the official exchange rate) a day by two teachers at the first academic lyceum in Samarkand.
The human rights advocates arrived at the Toskulton collective farm in the afternoon. Teachers and employees from the sports, finances and other colleges in Samarkand for taking their lunch breaks immediately next to the cotton-field they were working on. <i>Besstrashnye</i> interviewed them as well.
According to these interlocutors, students from the polytechnic and pedagogical colleges have been spending nights in a school in Toskulton. <i>Besstrashnye</i> provided them with leaflets on the prohibition of forced labour.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta5.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">A room where college students live</font><br />
Teachers from three schools in Samarkand District have been assigned to live in the village of Galapat, which is part of the Sharof Rashidov collective farm. The cotton-picking campaign headquarters is located in a private household as well.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta8.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Drying socks</font><br />
The two brave rights advocates entered a house in Galapat and saw several young teachers inside. As soon as they started speaking to them, a woman named Gulya emerged. She is the principal of School #2. She categorically prohibited the teachers from talking with the rights advocates. She then addressed Malohat and Yelena, “Have you obtained permission from the leadership? I have leadership [to report to]. We have headquarters in Gulazkent. We must ask for their permission to interview us and collect facts. When the leadership gives ‘green light,’ then we will happily answer your questions.”
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta9.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Speaking with college students</font><br />
The principal has then called someone: “Shohruh, there are two women here. They want to interview us. Are you aware of this?” Her interlocutor requested to speak with the rights advocates. Malohat Eshonqulova and introduced herself and her colleague. Shohruh said he would call back and hung up. The school principal then called a different person. Her actions were strange in that she would neither permit holding an interview nor would not let the rights advocates leave, trying to have them stay in the yard for some reason. But Urlayeva and Eshonqulova were able to stop a car and leave.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta10.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Lunch break at a different location</font><br />
They arrived at School #71 in Galapat, where they saw students from several departments of the Samarkand State University. They learnt students live not only in said school building, but also in several local residents’ houses. These students arrived here on September 15.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta11.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">University students in Galapat</font><br />
Teachers and students collect cotton crops also in the villages of Koksoq, Kurilish and elsewhere. Doctors and physicians from Samarkand have been spending nights and collecting cotton in the village of Gumbaz in the Sharof Rashidov collective farm almost for a month, while doctors from Pastdargom are engaged on fields of the neighbouring village.
Meanwhile, employees of Clinic #4 in Samarkand—some 100 employees—have been collecting cotton in the village of Ilim since September 15. They were forced to collect 70 kg a day as well; now the requirement is lowered to 20 kg a day. But given there is almost no cotton on the fields, doctors, teachers, and students are only collecting four to five kilogrammes a day.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/pahta14.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Cotton-pickers and Ms. Eshonqulova</font><br />
The cotton-picking campaign in Uzbekistan will conclude soon. The cotton-pickers—mainly state employed workforce—will gradually be sent back home and forgotten until next autumn. However, these images that <i>Besstrashnye</i> take every year will document an era. These documents will serve as irrefutable evidence of how agriculture is managed in Uzbekistan, the way authorities use and humiliate humans who fear even raising their heads, not voices, and submissively accept their fate.
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Punitive psychiatry gaining momentum in Kazakhstanhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2971Authorities and totalitarian countries often utilize physicians and medicines to suppress dissenting citizens and political opponents. Modern Kazakhstan is no exception. Those criticizing Astana risk being declared insane and ending up in psychiatric institutionsFergananewsTue, 18 Oct 2016 09:41:00 +0300Authorities and totalitarian countries often utilize physicians and medicines to suppress dissenting citizens and political opponents. Modern Kazakhstan is no exception. Those criticizing Astana risk being declared insane and ending up in psychiatric institutions.
<b>Using Facebook? Get treated in that special place!</b>
An elderly female kindergarten educator was announced “socially dangerous” late last week in Jezkazgan, a town in Central Kazakhstan. Natalia Ulasik’s crime? Blogging and using Facebook where she did not express loyalty to the powers-that-be. The first circuit judge removed criminal liability and ruled to have Natalia placed in the psychiatric clinic in the village of Aktas. (Especially dangerous criminal diagnosed as insane are confined in the clinic in question.)
The court based its ruling on the findings of a commission, which found Natalia psychologically ill and was not aware of her actions when she was committing the “crime” of slandering her former husband. However, no-one saw said findings because the judge simply failed to provide a copy to her relatives and defence team.
“We do not have access to the text [of the report],” Yevgeniy Jovtis, a well-known human rights advocate in Kazakhstan. “The hearing was held without [the defendant’s] lawyers; even the defendant’s daughter was not allowed to look at the findings. We have no information as to what grounds the court used to issued the verdict on forced treatment. Does the psychiatrists’ final conclusion clearly indicate that Ms. Ulasik is dangerous for people around or herself? I have all the reasons to believe that we are dealing with indications of punitive psychiatry.”
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/10/ullasikk.jpg width=100% hspace=0 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Natalia Ulasik</font><br />
Ms. Ulasik is known as the author of entries with criticism posted on social media. Her articles may potentially have created “inconveniences” for local authorities, Bureau.kz maintains; so they decoded to exact vengeance by having locked up in a psychiatric clinic if not in a prison.
<b>The Soviet-style approach</b>
Ms. Ulasik will now be subjected to “treatment” at the National Psychiatric Hospital under intensive observation in the village of Aktas, Almaty Region, in the country’s south. Back in the Soviet times, a special psychiatric hospital run by the Ministry of Interior of the USSR was located here. The facility in question retained those functions under the leadership of sovereign Kazakhstan.
This is the facility where Zinaida Mukhortova, a lawyer from the small town of Balkhash in Karaganda Region, spent nine months several years ago. She is now facing another threat of being forcibly placed there; she left the town and is now essentially in hiding. That said, an independent commission has established she is completely healthy and the Supreme Court cancelled the lower level courts’ rulings, which have placed the woman in forced treatment in the first place.
Thus, punitive psychiatry in Kazakhstan could perhaps be considered an exemplary case.
<b>You are unhappy with an MP? To the nuthouse!</b>
In July 2009, Ms. Mukhortova and three other women addressed President [Nursultan] Nazarbayev and the Public Commission for Combating Corruption under the presidential party of Nur Otan, complaining about the actions of Yerlan Nigmatullin, who is a member of the parliament and the brother of Karaganda Regional Governor.
Ironically, a criminal investigation was launched against the complainants themselves—all of them were conditionally convicted and Ms. Mukhortova was found psychologically ill with the delusional disorder diagnosis.
After five months of unsanctioned arrest in a pre-trial detention facility, she was moved to that very special clinic in Aktas, where extremely dangerous criminals are held. Another nine months of nightmare in the most feared psychiatric hospital in Kazakhstan came to an end on September 22, 2011 after a special commission concluded that Ms. Mukhortova’s psychological condition does not warrant any concerns. Based on this document’s contents, she was able to undergo “treatment” administered by a psychiatrist near her place of residence. Another curious aspect in the case is that the doctors at a local psychiatric clinic refused to register her as a patient. Why? Due to “lack of a diagnosis!” And independent experts’ group also confirmed that the lawyer’s psychological condition causes no concerns whatsoever.
Ms. Mukhortova has been deregistered as a patient back in July 2012, and she has not undergone any examinations since then. However, no-one wants to provide her with documented confirmation either. Just in case this might come in handy if someone wants to exercise their right for lawlessness and arbitrariness?..
<b>P.S.</b> As of this writing, Sanat Bukenov, a Balkhash-based lawyer, is undergoing a psychological and psychiatric examination in Almaty. Mr. Bukenov is charged with false information regarding a local prosecutor.
<b><a href=http://www.fergananews.com/articles/9122 target=_blank>Source: Fergananews.Com</a></b>
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Tajikistan’s imitation civil societyhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2970Civic activism has been on the rise in Tajikistan in recent years. At first, groups of disgruntled women started breaking into opposition parties’ offices and western embassies, accusing the first of wanting to start a new war in the country, and the second of harbouring dissidents. Then the disgruntled women vanished, only to be replaced by student activists from pro-government youth organisations. At a time when any anti-government protest — not just a rally, a picket, demonstration or even some small gathering outside a government building — is broken up by the police in Tajikistan, members of these organisations are free to hold rallies and demos, block the streets and even cause mass unrestFergana.RuMon, 10 Oct 2016 12:04:00 +0300Civic activism has been on the rise in Tajikistan in recent years. At first, <a href="http://news.tj/en/news/protest-rally-held-outside-german-embassy-dushanbe">groups of disgruntled women started breaking into opposition parties’ offices and western embassies</a>, accusing the first of wanting to start a new war in the country, and the second of harbouring dissidents. Then the disgruntled women vanished, only to be replaced by student activists from pro-government youth organisations.
At a time when any anti-government protest — not just a rally, a picket, demonstration or even some small gathering outside a government building — is broken up by the police in Tajikistan, members of these organisations are free to hold rallies and demos, block the streets and even cause mass unrest.
They are very demanding, these young people. “We demand!” they shout. The only thing is: they don’t demand anything from their own authorities, just foreign governments and Tajikistan’s opposition.
<b>Builders or destroyers?</b>
Sozandagoni Vatan (“Homeland builders”), founded in 2011, is the youth wing of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by president Emomali Rahmon. </p><p>In 2015, the organisation found itself at the centre of a scandal connected to the resignation of its then-leader Isfandiyor Abdurakhmonov. Leaving his post, Abdurakhmonov <a href="http://news.tj/ru/news/otkrovenno-o-sozandagoni-vatan">issued a statement</a> accusing his fellow members of parochialism, falsifying records, embezzlement and other improper activities. “I hope to god that the president has thought about this and sent the Tax Commission and Anticorruption Office to check on your accounts,” he warned his ex-associates.
It is unclear whether the PDP’s leadership acted on Abdurakhmonov’s advice. Not that it would make any difference, given Sozandagoni Vatan’s key role in maintaining young Tajiks’ loyalty to the government and creating “correct” public views of “friends” and “enemies”, “patriots” and “traitors”.
The “Homeland builders” not only organise rallies and flash mobs in support of Rahmon and his government’s policies, they also run protest demos outside foreign embassies, demanding the extradition of opposition figures who have fled to other countries to avoid persecution at home.
Sozandagoni Vatan organised, for example, rallies <a href="https://news.tj/ru/node/222241">outside the Turkish Embassy</a> and the EU Diplomatic Mission in Dushanbe, as well as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) offices in Khudjand, Tajikistan’s second city, demanding the extradition of what they called “traitors to their country” — in other words, supporters of the <a href="http://www.fergananews.com/news.php?id=23950">banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan</a> and <a href="http://www.fergananews.com/news.php?id=23893">Group 24</a>.
<b>Throwing eggs and beating up kids</b>
Tajikistan’s other pro-government youth organisation Avangard (“Avantgarde”) gets up to similar protest stunts, in clear cahoots with Sozandagoni Vatan. Avangard was founded in 2015 on the <a href="http://www.mvd.tj/index.php/ru/glavnaya/8446-sozdanie-peredovoj-gruppy-avangard">initiative</a> (<a href="http://avesta.tj/2016/04/14/glava-mvd-vstretilsya-s-aktivistami-gruppy-avangard/">and the assistance</a>) of the Tajik police authorities, and sees its mission as preventing young people from getting involved in terrorist and extremist organisations.
From the information posted about it on the official Ministry of Home Affairs website, it is clear that this preventive work, which is also aimed at Tajik migrant workers in Russia, <a href="http://www.mvd.tj/index.php/ru/glavnaya/9013-vpechatleniya-gruppy-avangard-ot-poezdki-v-rossijskuyu-federatsiyu">is carried out at public expense</a>. It is equally clear that it receives money from government sources to put on its “public” protest activities.
These events are, only too obviously, badly scripted and directed pieces of street theatre. Take, for example, the latest demonstration, <a href="http://www.fergananews.com/news/25371">which took place towards the end of September</a> and was timed to coincide with the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting taking place in Warsaw, and which was attended by several Tajik opposition figures.
Avangard activists held meetings in various universities (which allowed them to use lecture theatres in class time), organised a rally outside the OBCE office in Dushanbe and made a nuisance of themselves <a href="http://www.fergananews.com/news/25384">outside the homes of exiled opposition activists</a>, throwing eggs and burning photographs of them. They were assisted in this enterprise by being ferried around in city buses.
“On all the video footage and photos of these incidents,” writes the opposition Tajinfo.org portal, “you can see that two or three people are giving orders to the rest, who have been forced to come along and play the part of extras – they mill chaotically around their ‘supervisors’ and take no initiative themselves.”
People in Tajikistan, young people especially, are used to blindly following orders from above — the failure to obey can have unpleasant consequences. Being part of a crowd, chanting slogans, lynching family members of so-called “enemies of the people”, including small children (in the town of Kulob, a crowd of “patriots” beat up the nine-year-old daughter of <a href="http://www.fergananews.com/news.php?id=24477">opposition activist Shabnam Khudoydodova</a>) is, on the other hand, perfectly safe.
It’s dangerous not to be part of the crowd if they want you in it, to go against it. And the student “volunteers”, who never protest if they have no electricity in their flats for days on end, muddy water with bits of sand in it flowing from their taps and their parents and brothers slaving away for years as migrant workers in Russia know this.
<b>A typical situation</b>
Tajikistan’s rulers are certainly not the first to use their administrative resources to fight their opponents. Many post-Soviet governments use tame “voluntary organisations” and “local activists” as mouthpieces for “public protests” and to discredit dissidents.
Yesterday, it was “mouthy women”.&nbsp;Today, it’s “shrieking students”. Tomorrow, perhaps “angry teachers” or “insulted farmers”. Neighbouring Kyrgyzstan has had the concept of OBON (the acronym stands for <a href="http://www.fergananews.com/article.php?id=7546">“special purposes women’s squads”</a>) for over ten years. Their members are usually marginalised women whose job is to behave aggressively — start loud rows on street corners, block roads, drag people by their hair, use verbal and physical abuse, intimidate and throw people out of officials’ offices, as well as blackmail and the blackening of their opponents’ names.
Judging by the fact that OBON’s victims are those who express views unfavourable to the government, the acts of aggression must be ordered by the government itself.
In Kyrgyzstan, the authorities frequently mobilise the “voice of the people”, using not only OBON but other citizens willing to make public statements in support of the administration.
One recent example is <a href="http://osh.turmush.kg/ru/news:1333167/?from=ru_turmush&amp;place=newstopcomm">a demand by “a group of residents of the town of Osh”</a> to strip two human rights campaigners, Aziza Abdirasulova and Tolekan Ismailova, of their citizenship. This happened soon after Kyrgyz parliamentarians ganged up on the two women, accusing them of treason because “they smile and laugh and agree with the views of Kadyrjan Batyrov” — a political émigré sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment by a Kyrgyz court.
The actions of OBON often flout Kyrgyz law, but there is no hard evidence that anyone who has taken part in them has ever been punished.
<b>Who is the extremist here?</b>
According to information held by Human Rights Watch, the groups of “protesters” <a href="http://enews.fergananews.com/news.php?id=3142&amp;mode=snews">often include members of the local security forces in plain clothes</a>. And when their victims phone the police, they rarely respond and when they do come out to the crime scene, they just stand around, doing nothing.
The Tajik government had adopted a policy of intimidation, blackmail as well as <a href="https://opendemocracy.net/od-russia/edward-lemon/long-arm-of-despot">physical</a> and psychological terror towards their political opponents. As Mukhiddin Kabiri, head of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party, <a href="http://www.fergananews.com/news/25390">says</a>, the government may label them radicals and extremists, but it uses extremist methods itself.
<b>Translated and published by <a href=https://opendemocracy.net/od-russia/fergana-news/tajikistan-s-imitation-civil-society target=_blank>OpenDemocracy</a> (Liz Barnes)</b>
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>
Central Asian Survey: Uzbekistan Forum and Virtual Special Issuehttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2969The passing of Islom Karimov, the first president of independent Uzbekistan, in the late summer of 2016 raises important questions for the whole Central Asian region and for those who study it. Amid the clamour of media coverage about prospects for change under the leadership of interim President Shavkat Mirziyoyev—some of it resorting to clichés that have been well-critiqued in the pages of this journal—this Forum provides the opportunity for a longer and more nuanced view about the contemporary shape of the ‘Uzbek model,’ how it works, and how it is livedFerghanaSat, 01 Oct 2016 08:35:00 +0300<a href=http://explore.tandfonline.com/page/pgas/cas-uzbekistan-forum target=_blank>Central Asian Survey</a>
The passing of Islom Karimov, the first president of independent Uzbekistan, in the late summer of 2016 raises important questions for the whole Central Asian region and for those who study it. Amid the clamour of media coverage about prospects for change under the leadership of interim President Shavkat Mirziyoyev—some of it resorting to clichés that have been well-critiqued in the pages of this journal—this Forum provides the opportunity for a longer and more nuanced view about the contemporary shape of the ‘Uzbek model,’ how it works, and how it is lived.
The Uzbekistan Forum draws together scholars of Uzbekistan who have studied the country’s social, political, economic, agrarian and religious life over many years and who have published on these themes in the pages of Central Asian Survey. In a spirit of timely scholarly contribution to public debate, contributors were given an open brief to write short, personal essays drawing on their own area of scholarly and disciplinary expertise, exploring how these could help illuminate Uzbekistan’s present and near future. All of the contributions were penned within two weeks of Karimov’s funeral on September 3rd 2016 and are artefacts of that moment. It is symptomatic of the secrecy that surrounded Karimov’s death, as well as his life, that even the date of his passing is disputed among the short essays that follow.
The perspectives and voices that appear in this Forum are as diverse as one would expect from the contributors to a scholarly journal located across three continents. Nonetheless, certain recurrent themes emerge: the need to take history seriously; a scepticism towards scenarios positing sudden change; the need to understand the Uzbek model of mustaqillik seriously in its own terms, particularly as this pertains to the country’s protectionist model of economic development and its foreign policy trajectory. Perhaps the most striking continuity in assessment across the various contributions concerns the degree to which the post-Karimov political elite is invested in continuing the system of patrimonial privilege that has developed over the preceding twenty-five years.
Readers are invited to explore these contributions in the spirit intended: as personal and sometimes speculative reflections at a critical moment of transition. These ‘think-pieces’ are coupled with a Virtual Special Issue that brings together a number of the journal’s recent articles on Uzbekistan (published 2010-2016), made free-to-access to the end of the year. In this way, it is hoped that Central Asian Survey can play some role in bringing the insights of long-term, empirically grounded and theoretically-informed scholarship to public debate on contemporary Uzbekistan.
<FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Madeleine Reeves is a Social Anthropologist at the University of Manchester and Editor of Central Asian Survey. </font>
<b>Uzbekistan Forum </b>
<a href=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/1_Khalid_final220916.pdf target=_blank>The Age of Karimov in Context </a><br>Adeeb Khalid
<a href=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/2_Anceschi_final_220916.pdf target=_blank>Death, Power, and Politics in Post-Karimov Central Asia</a><br>Luca Anceschi
<a href=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/3_Hansen_final220916.pdf target=_blank>Livelihood strategies, negotiation and system change in Uzbekistan </a><br>Claus Bech Hansen
<a href=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/4_Ilkhamov_final_220916.pdf target=_blank>What is the legacy left to Uzbekistan by Islam Karimov?</a><br>Alisher Ilkhamov
<a href=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/5_Kamp_final220916.pdf target=_blank>Karimov’s economy: a memoir from 25 years of periodic observation</a><br>Marianne Kamp
<a href=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/6_Peshkova_final_210916.pdf target=_blank>Religion under Karimov and after </a><br>Svetlana Peshkova
<a href=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/7_Zanca_final_210916.pdf target=_blank>Karimov: Survived by Karimovism? </a><br>Russell Zanca
<a href=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/8_Dadabaev_final%20220916.pdf target=_blank>The Constructivist logic of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy in the Karimov era and beyond</a><br>Timur Dadabaev
<a href=http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pdf/9_Markowitz_final_220916.pdf target=_blank>The Karimov Legacy: Political Continuity Rooted in a Security and Economic Establishment </a><br>Lawrence P. Markowitz
<a href=http://explore.tandfonline.com/page/pgas/cas-uzbekistan-forum target=_blank>Central Asian Survey</a>
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Who was Uzbekistan's Islam Karimov?http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2968<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r-SPNW9KhOU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Al JazeeraSat, 03 Sep 2016 12:37:00 +0300<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r-SPNW9KhOU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Uzbekistan: testing your cheating speed, or “Hares”, “Runners” and ten thousand dollarshttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2967“Welcome!”, reads a sign at the entrance to a university in Tashkent. “To what?” one may ask, “to a world of bribes, lies and hypocrisy?” The results of the August 1st nationwide entrance exams to all universities in Uzbekistan will be announced in the next few days. Despite the countless measures taken to prevent cheating (complete shutdown of text messaging services in the country, armies of policemen and professors patrolling the exam rooms, etc.), prospective students rely not on their smarts, but on cheat sheets and the help of their resourceful intermediaries who have everything “under full control”. “Ferghana”, managed to speak to one of the parents who did everything to make sure his child gets accepted to a university with a full scholarship. The following account is with regard to a university located in one of the provinces of Uzbekistan. The names of the people in this account have not been disclosed upon their request. FerghanaFri, 12 Aug 2016 15:31:00 +0300“Welcome!”, reads a sign at the entrance to a university in Tashkent. “To what?” one may ask, “to a world of bribes, lies and hypocrisy?” The results of the August 1st nationwide entrance exams to all universities in Uzbekistan will be announced in the next few days. Despite the countless measures taken to prevent cheating (complete shutdown of text messaging services in the country, armies of policemen and professors patrolling the exam rooms, etc.), prospective students rely not on their smarts, but on cheat sheets and the help of their resourceful intermediaries who have everything “under full control”.
“Ferghana”, managed to speak to one of the parents who did everything to make sure his child gets accepted to a university with a full scholarship. The following account is with regard to a university located in one of the provinces of Uzbekistan. The names of the people in this account have not been disclosed upon their request.
<center>* * *</center>
<b>- Please tell us how you prepared for your son’s university entrance exam.</b>
- In spring we spoke to a professor from a university who offered to help us with the entrance exams. We immediately inquired about the cost of such a service. However, he refused to name a price with the justification that, the process remained unclear and the situation would manifest itself prior to the exam, along with the price of this service. This professor, also suggested not to trust anyone who offers a “one hundred percent guarantee”. I had previously had an encounter with one of these “one hundred percent guarantees” back in February. The conditions of the bargain were that I pay 7-10 thousand dollars upfront and then calmly wait for the exams. “Will our son then be accepted on a scholarship?”, I asked. “He will, we will take care of everything. Even if the exam does not go the way we planned, we can go directly to the exam center in Tashkent. There are people there who will do the desired job for a certain price. So if you want to be sure, pay upfront.”
<b>- So what did you decide to do? </b>
- I didn’t like that person's confidence and his demands that I pay upfront. I had heard many stories of cases of failure to get accepted to a university despite bribery. Things did not go as planned during an entrance exam of our neighbor’s daughter, whose family did exactly that - paid up front. Exam supervisors took away her phone at the exact moment when she started passing on the exam questions to her “helpers” outside of the university, and everything failed. The people who received money to ensure her entry refused to give refunds, claiming that their daughter is the one at fault. They, allegedly, had hired so many people: “a hare”, “a runner”, three expert teachers for each of the three exam subjects - the entire team consisted of seven to ten people. The team had already divided the money amongst themselves and refused to reimburse the family. They said she should have been more careful, and shouldn’t have given away her phone to the supervisors.
<b>- Could you please explain who are the “hares” and the “runners”? </b>
- Such terminology is used regarding the exam process by the parents, intermediaries and the students themselves. A “hare” is a person who takes the exam questions out of the exam room and passes it on to the “runner”. A “runner” receives the questions from a “hare” and takes them to the expert teachers in a rental flat nearby. These experts receive their share of the money for correctly answering the questions, which are then returned to the prospective student.
<b>- Have you tried hiring teachers to tutor your son so he could pass the exams on his own?</b>
- That’s what we decided to do. My son was tutored the entire spring. He went to private tutoring classes four times a week, which cost us 80 thousand <i>soms</i> per month (an official exchange rate is 1$=3000 soms). At the beginning of July, his private tutor summoned us and demanded $5000 as payment for my son’s entry to university, half of it upfront. He said that there are no guarantees - anything could happen during the exam. He proposed that my son and a few other prospective students move into his neighbor’s apartment until August 1st, the exam date. He promised to tutor his apprentices day and night in order to have them fully prepared. The preparation, however, entailed not only tutoring, but also a logistical training on the process of deceiving the exam supervisors with three options.
<b>- Three deceiving options? What kind? </b>
- First: papers with the exam questions would be taken out of the auditorium and passed on to a rental flat nearby the university, where several experienced professors will be waiting. They will answer the questions, and the papers with the correct answers will be given back to the prospective student. The process of returning the answers will be their own responsibility- the price of the “experts” is included in the total payment.
Second: the prospective student would have to use their smartphone to take photos of the questions and pass the memory card or the phone on to a “hare”, who will pass it to a “runner”, who will then take it to the rental flat with the experts in it. The experts will then answer the questions and recite the correct answers back to the student on the phone. For example, “question 1 - A (Alex), 2 - B (Brad), 4 - F (Felix)”, etc.
Third: the prospective student calls the experts from the exam room, recites the questions and receives the answers.
Fourth: if none of the above options work out, the student would have to be fully prepared to answer the questions independently, without any outside help.
<b>- Did you agree?</b>
- I agreed, but could only pay the tutor $4000, with only $1000 upfront. I said I would give him the rest of the money once the situation clears up. After a bit of bargaining, the tutor agreed. I requested that he try to have my son accepted with a full scholarship. He said if I wanted my son to go to university with a full scholarship, I had to add at least another $500 to the total payment. I agreed.
Eventually, my son and 5 other boys moved into the tutor’s neighbor’s house, for which I paid an additional 100 000 soms, and started preparing for the exam day. On July 25th, I brought the first part of the payment of $1000 to the tutor. But on August 31st, my son called me and informed that they did not find a “hare” for him, and that he would try to find one for himself. That would, however, mean that we would have to pay an additional $100 for an extra team member.
At first, the unexpected additional expenses angered me, but after a bit of thought I decided that we could deal with the problems the next day.
On the morning of August 1st I drove up to the university, as my son was about to enter the auditorium and attempt to find himself a “hare”. Allegedly, many students with no intention of getting accepted apply to take the exam in order to become a “hare” for others – there will be “hares” willing to do the job in every exam room. After quickly filling out their answers during the exam, the “hares” leave as soon as possible taking other students’ “packages” on the way out. The plan was that my son would give his phone to a hired “hare”, who would call me once he or she is out of the university building in order for me to be able to pick up the package and take it to the “experts”.
“Did all the other students who studied together with you find their “hares” and “runners?”, - I asked.
“Those who paid the full amount upfront did, but the ones like me were told to take care of it on our own”, - he answered.
After taking a phone number of one of the main “experts” from my son, I called them and found out the location of the rental flat in order to be able to do the “runner’s” job without losing much time.
In 2016, live broadcast of the exams was shown on the screens installed outside the universities across the country. What did the worried parents see on those screens? – The process of cheating, live.
I waited for news from my son for a very long time after he entered the auditorium. The “expert” even called me several times, inquiring about the situation. My son finally called me at half past twelve and informed me that his “hare” had just left. A few minutes later I received a phone call from a girl that was sent by my son. I described the color, license plate and make of my car on the phone and was approached by a young girl, whose first words to me were “$100, please”. She was in a hurry to deliver other packages to “runners”.
Later, my son told me that prior to the exam, that girl let everybody know she had no plans of getting accepted to the university, and that she would gladly carry out the job of a “hare” for whoever was in need. She must have earned over $500 that day.
<b>- How did your son manage to sneak a phone into the building? I thought the supervisors take them away at the entrance?</b>
- He took three phones with him and hid them the best he could. The supervisors only found one of them, and he took the other two into the auditorium. It was very strict there – you couldn’t even lift your head up until 11:00. The police caught one student cheating, confiscated his phone, wrote a report and kicked him out. They also caught another girl, but she started crying, saying that going to university was her last chance at avoiding a forced marriage to someone she did not love. She screamed for forgiveness, which was granted, and she calmly continued cheating during the exam.
Having seen that, my son built up his courage, took out his phone, and photographed the exam questions. He then quickly took the memory card out and gave it to the “hare”.
<b>- How did you proceed after having received the “package”?</b>
- I ran to the rental flat. The experts, who apparently waited for me responsibly, ran out of the building. After following them back into the apartment, I saw a row of mobile phones with prospective students’ names on them lying by the window. That’s when my son’s phone rang and I was informed that the experts would now tell him the correct answers.
Suddenly, I received a call from an unknown number. It was my son’s friend’s “hare”, who which had already been paid and had to pass the questions on to someone who would take them to the experts.
I had to go back to the university building, pick up the “package” and run to “the safe house”. The experts looked at the newly arrived phone and decided that the photos were too blurry and unclear to be able to decipher the questions. All the while, two other experts were taking turns in telling my son the exam answers on the phone – each answering questions in their own fields. The apartment worked like a factory – parents carrying out the job of “runners” kept hectically running in and out of the flat.
<b>- Our readers must be intrigued! Did everything work out in the end?</b>
- My son left the building at 13:30 and told me he had received all the answers from his experts. However, we had to stay there for another hour and a half so we could take back my son’s phone from the supervisors. Only at 3pm the future students were allowed to approach the confiscated belongings. My son found his phone without the back cover or the battery… Nobody knew anything, the crowd was unhappy and loud, expensive phones were stolen, but nobody heard the complaints or answered any questions. My son’s phone was a rental from our neighbor, so he had to open up another phone and take out the battery and the back cover from it on order to return the device in its entirety. I suppose it was robbery… but he was robbed as well, what should he have done?
<b>- Very nice. University education stars with bribery and robbery… Why were you so sure the experts gave your son correct answers?</b>
-They gave us the transcripts of the answers and we had the questions on my son’s memory card, so we checked everything the next day. I guess my son got accepted with a full scholarship! My friend’s son, however, whose father paid upfront and had a “hare” beforehand (and for whom I also carried out the job of a “runner”), failed… When will the results of the exams finally be released? We can’t wait!
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Preschool Education in Kyrgyzstanhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2965Sumon Lord is a citizen of the United Kingdom who is currently living in Bishkek. He was asked to contribute an article on life in Kyrgyzstan to Fergana.ru from the perspective of an expat, explaining for example, what he found surprising, interesting, unusual, what he liked or did not like about life in Kyrgyzstan. He decided to make preschool education in Kyrgyzstan the main theme of this articleSymon LordMon, 25 Jul 2016 08:30:00 +0300<b>My interest in Kyrgyzstan</b>
I am a citizen of the United Kingdom who is currently living in Bishkek. I was asked to contribute an article on life in <strong>Kyrgyzstan</strong> to Fergana.ru from the perspective of an expat, explaining for example, what I found surprising, interesting, unusual, what I liked or did not like about life in Kyrgyzstan.
I have to say from the outset that there are different types of expats who work in the various countries of the post-Soviet space. Some people are here for the first time, and so would be well qualified to write an article which views life in Kyrgyzstan through fresh eyes. Other expats have previously spent lengthy periods of time in several, or more ex-post Soviet Republics, in some case going back to the 1990s. I know a lot of people from western Europe and North America who have done this, and to an extent could perhaps be described as being ‘post-Soviet foreign nationals’. These people seem to have the tendency to spend several years or so in Moldova, Russia, Georgia, or Uzbekistan, and then move on.
Many of these people obtained their first major work experience after completing their higher education in one of the fifteen ex-Soviet republics, for example as English teachers, Peace Corps volunteers, or NGO interns. They may go back home for a while, or work in an entirely different part of the World, but like addicts, always seem to be drawn back to Azerbaijan, Latvia, or Kyrgyzstan and stay there. It seems that this part of the World that ‘gets into the blood’ of some people. Why this is the case, is however, not the main theme of this article.
I fit into the latter category of people. I first studied Russian and taught English in Belarus in the 1990s. Later on, I worked for the UN Refugee Agency in Azerbaijan, mainly overseeing the education and training needs of refugees and displaced peoples. After this I worked as a freelance Consultant in Tajikistan for UNICEF and several international NGOs. I have also conducted a bit of experimental filmmaking in Tajikistan and in Russia, the main theme of which was human stories around the theme of migration. For this reason, I’m not really in much of a position to say that I really find anything to be surprising or unusual in a post-Soviet country.
Now, I find myself again back in the CIS, working as a freelance Consultant in the development sector in Kyrgyzstan, working mainly in the area of Monitoring and Evaluation. It is possible to say that after several years in the UK, where I did keep up-to-date with events in the post-Soviet states via the Internet, I felt drawn back to this part of the World, and the need to experience another post-Soviet country. I chose Kyrgyzstan, because I wanted to return to Central Asia. I had travelled in Kyrgyzstan as a backpacker in 2007, and liked the country with it’s stunning mountainous scenery, fascinating, though sometimes tragic history, and hospitable population.
<b>My interest in post-Soviet education</b>
I have had an interest in Soviet/post-Soviet education going back some time now. Whilst teaching English in Belarus in the early1990s, I remember people talking about the strengths of the Soviet education system, and worrying that the advantages of it might be lost. I recall that many of my students had a wide general knowledge and rigorous understanding of the basic academic subjects taught at school. This was particularly noticeable in science and technical subjects, mathematics, geography, literature and foreign languages.
I was also struck by their ability to recall information very quickly, through what they called ‘memory training’. This was something I had not previously encountered. Some subjects, such as History, Economics, Philosophy and ‘Scientific Atheism’ were taught from the perspective of the Communist Party’s interpretation of ‘Marxism-Leninism’ of that period. However, even then, people I spoke to did seem to have a fairly thorough knowledge of these subjects, and those who were able to use a bit of discern and ‘read between the lines’ could still obtain some useful knowledge.
Curiously, I recall hearing at this time that a teacher who had taught ‘Scientific Atheism’ had been struck dead by a lightening bolt. Readers can decide for themselves if there is a lesson to learn from this story, and what that lesson might be.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/07/lord1.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Meeting with a group of parents at a Community-based Kindergarten in Batken region</font><br />
People talked about how accessible education had been during the Soviet period, and how it had given a potential chance to people from un-influential families from villages, small towns and big cities to educate themselves and advance in their careers. Arguably, at the end of the Soviet period, access to higher education was wider than it was in North America, and some Western European countries. Perhaps, ultimately, this was the greatest achievement of the USSR. Since that time the situation with post-Soviet education has not ben easy, particularly in the ex-Soviet countries, like Kyrgyzstan, which do not have oil and gas wealth to help fund it.
<b>Early Childhood Learning</b>
I decided to make preschool education in Kyrgyzstan the main theme of this article. The reason being that I recently completed a report on the subject of Early Childhood Learning in Kyrgyzstan for UNICEF Kyrgyzstan, and felt that I had some authority to speak on the subject. I had not previously worked in Preschool Education, as my English teaching work had always been with young people and adults.
I discovered that ECL, which covers the age group of three to six was an entire discipline in it’s right, and one upon which education and development planners are attaching increasing importance to. To help readers have an idea of the thinking behind ECL, I have prepared a summary of some of it’s main features below. A more detailed version can be found on UNICEF’s websiate.
The development of every individual is most rapid in childhood. The early years of life are crucial to establishing a sound foundation for cognitive, social, emotional and physical development for the rest of a person’s life. Children who receive assistance in their early years achieve more success at school than those who do not have the opportunity to develop adequately. As adults, those who received the possibility to develop in childhood, have higher employment and earnings, better health, and lower levels of welfare dependence and crime rates than those who do not.
Unfortunately, many children, mainly as a result of poverty, do not have the possibility to receive access to educational opportunities, supportive community, nutrition or even basic sanitary facilities. Frequently both parents of children in this situation are forced to work, so that the kind of family care that can be educational to a child is limited. Subsequently, these children do not have the chance to develop their full human potential and do not become well equipped to contribute to the economies and societies of the countries where they live.
Fortunately, these children and their families can be helped by ECD programmes supported and implemented by developmental organizations. These children are also more likely to have higher earnings and participate more in society later in life, than if they had not participated in the ECD programme.
In a wider perspective, ECD can be seen as central to sustainable development and one of the most cost efficient investments in human capital. Economic analyses from the developed and developing World largely shows that investing in a child’s earliest years leads to some of the highest rates of return to families, societies and countries. As such, ECD can be viewed as an investment, rather than a cost.
How does all this relate to Kyrgyzstan now? In order to understand the present, it is important to understand the past. Based on my recent research, I have put together a short summary of the background history to Preschool Education in Kyrgyzstan that should help to make clear the context in which ECL programmes are now being implemented in Kyrgyzstan.
<b>Background to Early Childhood Learning in Kyrgyzstan</b>
In Kyrgyzstan during the latter half of the Soviet period, those children that attended preschool kindergarten did so all day. Educational activities took place in the morning, and after lunch, the children slept in beds for much of the afternoon in special ‘sleeping rooms’. The majority of these kindergartens were established in urban areas, which were seen by Soviet planners as being of much higher priority than the countryside.
When the Soviet Union came to an end in 1991, most sources estimate the number of 3-6 years olds in Kyrgyzstan in preschool education to be around 30% at maximum. Estimates vary, but the number of children receiving preschool education in urban areas was probably around 50%, whilst in rural areas access was much more limited, with coverage being below 20%.
Following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, many of these kindergartens ceased to operate due to lack of funds. In some cases they had been linked to government enterprises, such as a factory or collective farms, and closed down when the enterprises themselves became financially unsustainable. Some kindergartens were illegally privatized and their premises used for other functions. Those kindergartens that remained had to struggle to survive on the limited resources available. Insufficient funds for maintenance at this time meant that schools’ premises became increasingly dilapidated.
During the Soviet period, teachers, like most working people had received a regular salary, which was usually enough to live on relatively comfortably. The breakup of the Soviet system was followed by a period of economic uncertainty, which included hyper-inflation and non payment of salaries for state employees. Salaries paid to teachers were not always paid, in the fifteen newly independent ex-Soviet countries made teaching an unattractive, un-prestigious profession for some people.
Many teachers left the profession to engage in some form of trade in the newly emerging market economies, or engaged in other work at the same time as teaching. The latter point negatively impacted on teaching performance, and relatively few people chose to enter the teaching profession at this time. Almost no resources were available to invest in modernizing curriculums, textbooks, teaching methodology or training which remained unchanged since the Soviet era.
Another factor that reduced the number of preschool teachers in Kyrgyzstan at this time was outmigration. During the Soviet period, many teachers, particularly in urban areas had been Russian, other Slavs, Tatar, Jewish or German. Outmigration firstly of Jews and Germans started from Gorbachev’s Perestroika period in the mid-1980s, and outmigration of all non-Kyrgyz nationalities has been ongoing since that point. Many observers regard this ‘exodus’ as a brain drain, which still negatively effects the country’s education system today.
From around 2000, many teachers and potential teachers from Kyrgyzstan have worked in Russia and Kazakhstan as migrant workers. The reason is that the income they can earn in these countries, even doing unqualified jobs -at least until the recent sanctions were put on Russia- is/was considerably higher than what can be earned as a teacher in Kyrgyzstan. In some cases, teachers, or potential teachers from rural communities move to urban areas to do non-teaching jobs in Kyrgyzstan, as they can earn more doing this than teaching at a school in the countryside.
For these reasons’ attracting suitable personnel to the teaching professions, and keeping them in the profession can be viewed as an issue of vital importance to the development of the country’s education system.
By 2004, when international aid organizations started to focus attention on early Childhood Learning, total coverage of children in state kindergartens was estimated at around 9% by most sources. In rural areas the statistic would have noticeably lower than this figure. School premises at this time were for the most part more rundown and the quality of teaching, curriculum and study materials of lower than during the Soviet period.
There were some private schools in Bishkek, and still are, for those who could afford them, but relatively few elsewhere, especially in the impoverished countryside where almost two thirds of the population live. Clearly, there was, and still is, much work to do in preschool education in Kyrgyzstan.
<b>Foreign assistance money and Early Childhood Learning</b>
From the early 1990s, a lot of aid money from a wide variety of international donor organizations has poured into Kyrgyzstan and other CIS countries. Donor organizations include The World bank, USAID, The EU, The UK’s Department for International Development, The Swiss Cooperation Agency and Germany’s GIZ.
Due to the fact that Kyrgyzstan is not an oil or gas producing, unlike Russia, neighbouring Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan has to accept and make the best possible use of this type of aid money in order to design and implement it’s development projects. It will be interesting to see if Kyrgyzstan’s entry into the Eurasian Economic Union will mean significant developmental aid from Russia.
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Early Childhood Learning received little attention from developmental planners. Tis started to change around 2004. Since this time, attention to preschool education has gradually increased, and in 2014 it was decided that a new grant from the Global Fund for Education, a US-based charity, worth twelve million dollars was to be dedicated entirely to funding activities in the Early Childhood Learning sector.
One of the reasons for this decision was the fact that children in Kyrgyzstan scored very low in the Programme for International Academic Assessment, or PISA tests in 2009. PISA tests taken are taken by fifteen years to test pupils’ abilities in Mathematics, Science and Reading. By giving children a thorough background in learning skills, it is hoped that they will, over time, become as well prepared as resources allow to complete their primary, secondary, and in some cases higher education.
The two main areas of Early Childhood learning/Preschool Education in Kyrgyzstan are Community-based Kindergartens and the recently started 480-hours National Preschool Preparation Programme. The rest of this article will be dedicated to giving the general reader an idea of what Community-based Kindergarten
S (CBKs) and the 480-hours National Preschool Education Programme are all about.
<b>Community-based Kindergartens (CBKs)</b>
What is known as the Community-based Kindergarten, or CBK model was adopted by UNICEF and other developmental organizations in Kyrgyzstan as the main component in their Early Childhood learning programmes. The reason for this is that a CBK is the most cost-effective way to allow the maximum number of children to obtain preschool education. All of the CBKs established with the assistance of developmental organizations are in rural areas, and are intended for the poorest members of Kyrgyzstan’s society.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/07/lord2.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">A lesson at A CBK in Batken region</font><br />
Statistics vary, but as of writing, around 20% of children in rural areas in Kyrgyzstan have access to a kindergarten. This might not sound like a huge number, however, it is probably more than double the number of twelve years ago, when CBKs first started to be established in Kyrgyzstan. Currently, there are plans to establish at least 120 more CBKs using the financial resources of the Global Fund grant from September 2016.
CBKs are established in existing buildings that are legally municipal property, which means that resources are not spent on the construction of new buildings. I noticed quite an inventive utilization of old buildings on my visit to CBKs in Batken. In one case a former cinema was used as a CBK, in another case, a former ‘Chaikhana (teahouse). Playground areas were designed using a creative use of local resources, such as car tyres, whilst classrooms were also nicely decorated with educational posters and examples of children’s work.
A CBK is set up with the active participation of the local community. Material support provided by the developmental organization consists of the supply of chairs, desks, cupboards, toys, firefighting equipment and washstands. An agreement is made between the CBK and the developmental organization about what contribution the community where the CBK is established will make to the establishment of and then running of the CBK.
The contribution from the community usually consists of a supply of some building materials, supply of labour for restoration work, and some volunteer work by parents of the children who will attend/attend the school. Volunteer work by parents or other family members of the school could, for instance, take the form of covering for an ill teacher, or escorting groups of children home. Parents also take part in a Parents Teachers Association that meets monthly to discuss and find solutions related of the running of the kindergarten. Teachers and other staff are recruited locally as far as is possible, which aside from adding to the community involvement, provides jobs for local people. All staff receive training related to their work at the CBK, in addition to refresher trainings. The involvement of the community helps to achieve the sustainability of the CBK.
A CBK operates what is known as a ‘shift-system’, which means that that children attend in shifts of three to four hours instead of a full day with the afternoon taken up by the children sleeping in beds in rooms of the premises that are not use as classrooms. The rooms that would be used as the ‘sleeping room’ in the ‘traditional’ kindergarten, are used as additional classrooms in the ‘shift-based’ kindergarten.
This means that twice as many rooms can be used for lessons at the same time, and the classrooms are used for separate groups of children both in the morning and the afternoon. As a result, four times as many children are able to get education at one institution for approximately the same financial outlay. The argument for CBKs is strengthened by the fact that international studies have shown that children who attend kindergarten for half a day, are just as well prepared for attendance at primary school, as those who attend for a full day.
The CBKs I visited seemed to be working very effectively. The lessons observed to be conducted well and staff seemed to be enthusiastic and happy. All CBKs seemed well supplied with toys, books and stationeries. Attendance and punctuality of children enrolled was reported as good and registers were kept, as was a file of work completed by each child. The schools seemed to meet all government health and safety standards. All in all, the CBKs felt like welcoming places to be and after the warm reception from staff and parents, I was sorry to have to leave them.
When CBKs first started to be established in the mid-2000s, they had a rather unclear, problematic relationship with local authorities. However, as a result of advocacy by UNICEF, and the acknowledged quality work done by the CBKs are now recognized as being part of the state education system. Full acceptance of the CBKs into the governmental education system can be seen in the fact that CBK teachers now receive a state salary paid by local government. In December of 2015, teachers even received a pay rise.
Whilst CBKs can be viewed predominantly as a positive success story, it is never good to think that everything is perfect. It never is. It is always more constructive to constantly review what is going on, and identify areas for improvement. This is particularly true in view of the fact that CBKs are a relatively recent innovation in Kyrgyzstan.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/07/lord3.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Creative decorating of a CBK in Batken region by a member of the community</font><br />
In my view, CBKs could be strengthened by implementing the following recommendations:
• A standardized system of Monitoring and Evaluation could be developed, which includes an annual check of each CBK. ’ Suggested areas for attention would be: health and safety standards; management/financial/administration system; staff performance; attendance; a check of school inventory.
• The exact relationship between local authorities and CBKs, which outlines the responsibilities of each, should be set down in law. This can help to ensure transparency in relations between the two.
• Government CBK specialists should be trained at the national and regional levels. Such specialists should make it easier to resolve any issues related to CBKs.
• Self-help groups for teachers for teachers of different CBKs should be established which could meet monthly. Such groups would allow teachers to discuss and resolve together. In particular, the more experienced teachers could help the younger ones.
All in all, it can be concluded that a lot of good work has been done to date with CBKs. After a CBKs is set up following the developed procedures, if it is well managed, it is sustainable. Additional state spending is largely on staff salaries. In order for the good work of establishing more CBKs is to continue, financial support will need to be forthcoming.
Future budgets can be difficult to predict, particularly in times of possible future economic uncertainty. For now things are looking fairly good. However, funds both from domestic Government revenues and external sources are influenced by economic factors beyond the control of education planners. A relatively stable and growing World economy means that ample finances can be available for aid programmes. Expanding domestic economies mean that funds are available for Government budgets. As the economy of Kyrgyzstan is closely linked to that of Russia, it is to be hoped that the economic situation in Russia will not get too bad. Likewise, it is to be hoped that the World economy will not go in to recession, which undoubtedly would likely reduce aid budgets everywhere.
<b>480-hours National Preschool Education Programme</b>
Aside from the establishment of CBKs, a very big recent innovation in preschool education in Kyrgyzstan is the National 480-hours national Preschool Preparation Programme. The Programms is run for children in the 6-7 age group, in the year before they start primary school. The first year of the Programme commenced in September of 2015 and ended in June of 2016. Children attend half-day classes, which take place on the premises of primary schools, and in some cases at CBKs in either the morning or the afternoon. In cases where there are not enough places for children in these shifts, a third evening shift is also run.
The Programme was widely advertised on different forms of media before it commenced, and is legally compulsory. It follows on from two short-term national preschool preparation programmes, the 100-hours Preschool Preparation Programme, which ran over the Summer months from 2006-2010, and the 240-hours Preschool Preparation Programme, which was conducted in the Spring between 2011 and 2014. In the first year of the new programme, 77,000 children were recorded as attending. It is entirely funded from the Global partnership for Education grant, and fits into the Ministry of Education’s 2012-2020 Preschool education Strategy.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/07/lord4.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">A lesson of the 480-hours National Preschool Education programme in Osh</font><br />
The programme is taught through interactive games and puzzles. It’s modern curriculum, which was developed by a team of experts and consists of the following components:
• Physical development.
• Getting to know the world around us.
• Speech development.
• Reading and writing.
• Introduction to mathematics.
• Developing creativity.
• Russian language.
The Programme’s sessions are conducted in existing primary schools in classrooms, which are refurbished and supplied with furniture, visual aids, methodological materials, toys, books and games. The rooms where lessons are taught which I saw were well decorated with educational materials and examples of the children’s work. As with the CBKs, they also had a pleasant atmosphere that was conducive to learning, and the lessons that I observed were conducted very well.
I checked the attendance records, which were well kept, and attendance was recorded as being good. Children produce a portfolio of work during lessons that is kept in their own files in the classroom. If a child cannot attend lessons, parents have to contact the school. If a child does not come to lessons without parents informing the school, the school phones the parents to enquire of the reasons, so that any actions deemed to be necessary can be taken. So, a good system in place.
All teachers of the course are qualified and experienced primary school teachers, who received 72 hours of training in June 2015 in addition to two five- days additional training during holiday periods. The lessons observed were interactive, and children seemed to be very involved in them. Some ECL experts I interviewed reported that in some cases, teachers are still learning to use the curriculum developed for the Programme correctly, as they are still used to using Soviet style methodology. This issue, however, can be remedied over time.
Some teachers on the 480-hours programme work full-time, while others work part-time, teaching only one shift. The Teachers of the programme I spoke to reported that they receive their salaries on time, but are not as yet paid for preparation time, or holidays. Like teachers in many countries, it can be argued that they receive less than their important, highly qualified, complicated and at times stressful tasks warrant.
As with CBKs, he running of the programme also includes the involvement of the community. At the schools and CBKs, there are Parents Teachers Associations that meet regularly to discuss, and as far as is possible resolves issue related to the programme. The Committee includes a Fund to which parents contribute for buying articles considered to be necessary for the programme, such as stationery.
There are, however, a few general observations that I think would be useful to make. My overall impressions of the course were very positive. The fact that the course has gone ahead successfully is in itself a great achievement, and can be viewed as a remarkable feat of planning and organization. After the initial expenses incurred to get the programme ‘on it’s feet’, future expenditure to ensure sustainability will be largely on trainings, staff salaries and running costs.
In planning for the 2016-2017 academic year, programmes organizers will need to take into account all external evaluation work done, feedback from school Heads, teachers and parents, and introduce any changes considered to be necessary. As with CBKs, overtime a standardized system of Monitoring and Evaluation could be beneficial, as could self-help groups for teachers of the Programme to exchange ideas and resolve any problem issues.
As with CBKs, ideally, it would be nice for teachers to get a pay rise. Aside from deserving one, I am sure that this would help to attract teachers to and keep them in the teaching profession, thus dealing with one of the most central problems in post-Soviet education. As discussed earlier, however, this issue is effecting by economic forces.
<b>Symon Lord</b>
<a href=http://www.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency</font></a>
Andrew Finkel, The Guardian: Turkey was already undergoing a slow-motion coup – by Erdoğan, not the armyhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2964What happens in Turkey matters. It is a G20 economy in a sensitive part of the world, sharing borders with Iraq, Iran and Syria. Turkey is an asset to its Nato partners when it is able to exercise a leadership role. It can be a liability when its own problems – like the tension with its Kurdish population – spill over those frontiers. And it can be a millstone around the world’s neck when it decides, as it did on Friday, to self-harm..The GuardianSun, 17 Jul 2016 05:56:00 +0300What happens in Turkey matters. It is a G20 economy in a sensitive part of the world, sharing borders with Iraq, Iran and Syria. Turkey is an asset to its Nato partners when it is able to exercise a leadership role. It can be a liability when its own problems – like the tension with its Kurdish population – spill over those frontiers. And it can be a millstone around the world’s neck when it decides, as it did on Friday, to self-harm...
Indeed, many would argue that Turkey was already in the throes of a slow motion coup d’état, not by the military but by Erdoğan himself. For the last three years, he has been moving, and methodically, to take over the nodes of power...
Read the full text <a href=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/16/turkey-coup-army-erdogan?CMP=share_btn_tw target=_blank>here</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Turkey was already undergoing a slow-motion coup – by Erdoğan, not the army <a href="https://t.co/ufCOmBk34t">https://t.co/ufCOmBk34t</a></p>&mdash; Andrew Finkel (@FinkelAndrew) <a href="https://twitter.com/FinkelAndrew/status/754389815475470337">July 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>Registan.Net: Kazakhstan at odds with homegrown terrorismhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2963In June, Kazakhstan fell victim to homegrown terrorism. On June 5, a group of about 20 unknown armed assailants stormed two gun supply shops and a National Guard base in Aktobe (Northwestern Kazakhstan) in a vaguely coordinated assault that initially left 4 gunmen, a police officer, and 2 civilians killed. Mathieu Boulègue, an analyst in the field of Russia/CIS security and geostrategic issues, analyzes the situationMathieu BoulègueMon, 20 Jun 2016 10:32:00 +0300<b>Source: <a href=http://registan.net/2016/06/18/kazakhstan-at-odds-with-homegrown-terrorism/?utm_source=Registan+Updates+Newsletter&utm_campaign=6703b1be36-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_802866f885-6703b1be36-98504189 target=_blank>Registan.Net</a></b>
In June, Kazakhstan fell victim to homegrown terrorism. On June 5, a group of about 20 unknown armed assailants stormed two gun supply shops and a National Guard base in Aktobe (Northwestern Kazakhstan) in a vaguely coordinated assault that initially left 4 gunmen, a police officer, and 2 civilians killed. The gunmen started with an attack on a gun shop, took off with some weapons, and split into two groups: the first one went on to pillage armory while the other unsuccessfully tried to storm the military base with a stolen bus. At least 7 assailants were arrested in the aftermath of the shootouts and the authorities immediately set up an “anti-terrorist operation” to track down the remaining gunmen who managed to disperse. The police operations heated up on June 6 when at least 19 people were killed, including 12 gunmen, 3 police officers, and 4 civilians. Prime Minister Karim Massimov consequently declared that the highest level of terrorist alert would be adopted in the Akotbe region and Defense Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov placed all military units in a state of emergency, amidst a media and Internet blackout set up by the authorities in the name of national security.
After several days of troubling silence, President Nursultan Nazarbaev made a public statement on June 8 where he presented the attackers as “<em>followers of radical pseudo-religious currents who received instruction from abroad</em>”. The official State rhetoric used to describe the attacks went with “<em>radical, non-traditional religious movements</em>”, clearly a cover for Islamic terrorist groups. President Nazarbaev made the most of his statement to warn the population against the dangers of “color revolutions”, outlining the fact that “<em>where these revolutions succeeded, there is no longer a working state and stability, only rampant poverty and banditry</em>” remained – a message directly aimed at the massive anti-land reform protest movement that sparked throughout the country in late April. The leader also tasked the government to draft new anti-terrorism, anti-extremist, and gun control laws. On June 10, the National Security Committee (NAK) finally tracked down and terminated the remaining 6 surviving attackers in Aktobe, while other suspected terrorists were arrested on June 12. Overall, 18 gunmen were killed and 9 arrested, for a total of 26 people killed since June 5.
The Aktobe attacks took an official Islamist tone on June 14 when the Interior Ministry announced that an “<em>Imam from Syria</em>” (whose name remains unknown) was responsible for pushing the Kazakh assailants into action. Yet if the “Syrian connection” looks quite appealing to the authorities as a way to dodge responsibilities, it fails to recognize that the problem came from within with the threat of homegrown terrorism. In this, about 27 assailants – from a group of roughly 50 young men loosely affiliated around the same faith-based structure – suddenly decided to act on their convictions and carry out the attacks, thereby explaining the lack of proper planning and timely preparation. Their initial goal was to storm gun shops in order to stockpile weapons and ammunition and thus prepare for larger attacks, probably on public institutions and government symbols in the Aktobe region.
The group could be considered an ad hoc and independent terrorist sleeper cell since it gradually self-radicalized through contacts with Islamic propaganda material (present throughout the Internet and elsewhere) before deciding to act out spontaneously. They might have been triggered by a radical preacher and its extremist discourse on that day. Unsurprisingly, nobody claimed responsibility for the attacks – and especially not Syrian-based terrorist groups.
The Aktobe events might be a precursor to something worse in Kazakhstan: had some of the assailants been actually trained in Syria to genuine jihad techniques and urban warfare, the situation could have taken unprecedented proportions. The relative lack of internationalization of the Islamist movements in Kazakhstan, at least for now, plays in Astana’s favor. But this situation might not last very long: some 40 Kazakh nationals have reportedly returned from Syria since 2013. If they have all been arrested, there might come a day when some of them evade the authorities and start preaching extremist ideas and train others to jihad in Kazakhstan. This is especially worrying when considering the fact that Central Asians fighting in Syria alongside the Islamic State (ISIL) or al-Qaeda are well-trained, well-equipped, and increasingly “professionalized”. Also, in 2014, ISIL called Central Asians to carry out attacks directly in their countries: in the first 5 months of 2016, the Kazakh authorities already judged and incarcerated over 50 people for suspected acts of terrorism.
Failing to recognize that the problem comes from within while blaming external factors will prove detrimental to the Kazakh authorities in their desperate fight against terrorism. In a highly strained economic and social context, radical Islam will undoubtedly become a favored mode of social protest and anti-government action.
<i>Mathieu Boulègue is an analyst in the field of Russia/CIS security and geostrategic issues. He currently works as a project manager for a risk management consulting firm. He is also a founding member of Sogdiane, a strategic think-tank on Eurasian affairs.</i>
<b>Source: <a href=http://registan.net/2016/06/18/kazakhstan-at-odds-with-homegrown-terrorism/?utm_source=Registan+Updates+Newsletter&utm_campaign=6703b1be36-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_802866f885-6703b1be36-98504189 target=_blank>Registan.Net</a></b>«Hizb ut-Tahrir» and Donald Trump: mutual contempthttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2962Donald Trump’s Islamophobic speeches during campaign meetings seriously shook the US’s credibility in the eyes of ordinary Muslims. Well-known Islamic theologians say that if Trump wins the elections, Muslim part of the world will lose its faith. The faith in the American dream and the success of the democratic path. The Muslim world has been forced to pay attention to Donald Trump’s anti-Islamic rhetoric, not only due to the fact that he is a contender for the presidency, but also because he questioned the basic human values – human rights and freedom of religionUran BotobekovWed, 15 Jun 2016 11:31:00 +0300<b>Islamophobia as a tool for pre-election race</b>
The theme of the presidential elections in the United States has always attracted the world's attention. Today, particularly the Islamic world closely and with a great concern follows the political debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, who are collected enough delegates to be nominated as a candidates from their parties. US internal socio-economic situation as well as the fate of democracy and human rights around the world, especially for the Muslim countries, depends on the person who enters the White House in January of 2017.
It is an open secret that many perceive the US as a world leader and a democratic sort of beacon of freedom, which with its political power and economic levers are forcing an authoritarian rulers to respect the religious freedom and the rights of national minorities. However, Donald Trump’s Islamophobic speeches, during campaign meetings seriously shook the US’s credibility in the eyes of ordinary Muslims. Well-known Islamic theologians say that if Trump wins the elections, Muslim part of the world will lose its faith. The faith in the American dream and the success of the democratic path. If Trump succeeds and becomes a president, it will be morally difficult for the United States to present valid claims to ensure religious freedom and human rights in the authoritarian states. The Islamic world is convinced that Donald Trump’s rise to power can undo the democratic ideals and humanist values, which America represented for several centuries.
Trump himself created such a ‘doubt’, with his demagogic speeches against the migrants from Mexico and Islamophobic discourse. He divided the American society into two opposing camps. From the first days of his appearance on the political arena, he has positioned himself as an opponent of Islam. His statements about the San Bernardino shooting the shooting on December 7 of 2015, that «Muslims hate America and could put the nation under attack, so it is necessary to prohibit all Muslims to enter the United States», drew criticism around the world.
The Muslim world has been forced to pay attention to Donald Trump’s anti-Islamic rhetoric, not only due to the fact that he is a contender for the presidency for one of the largest and most influential economies in the world, but also because he questioned the basic human values – human rights and freedom of religion. The Islamic world's reaction was as expected, sharp and hysterical. Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and a young human rights activist from Pakistan, was first to respond to Trump’s populist statements. Speaking on British television’s Channel-4 on December 15 of 2015 she said: «The more you speak about Islam and against all the Muslims, the more terrorists we create. If your intention is to stop terrorism, do not try to blame the whole population of Muslims for it, because it cannot stop terrorism. It will radicalize more terrorists». She called Trump's comments «tragic», «hateful» and «discriminatory against Islam».
Legendary American boxer Muhammad Ali, who died on June 3 of 2016 at the age of 74, also interceded for Islam. On December 9 of 2015, on NBC News TV Channel, he said: «I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. The true Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion. We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda. They have alienated many from learning about Islam». It seems that the words of the famous boxer had no effect on Trump and his supporters. As an anomalous election tactics of the main Republican candidate demonstrated, the more noise there is around him, the more political points he gains. Mohammed Ali departed this life protecting Islamic values from Trump’s arrogant and populist attacks.
Following this, the Saudi prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal, nephew of the reigning King, called the nomination of the American billionaire Donald Trump for the US presidency as a disgrace. On his page on «Twitter», he wrote: «You are a disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America. Withdraw from the US presidential race as you will never win». Trump replied to this rough and non-diplomatic attitude, by calling Waleed «Dopey» a man who wants to get the money of his father, to be able to control some US politicians. And also he said that «if he becomes president, it will not happen».
Doctor of Historical Sciences, marketing policy and Islam researcher in London, Arslan Capay called this incident «the whims of the two billionaires». According to him, «Al-Waleed Bin Talal’s too emotional suggestion violates the constitutional rights of Donald Trump to participate in elections and it is for American voters to choose the President. Before the criticism of the US elections, the members of the Saudi kingdom should lay the foundations for the democratic elections at home, where the power is still inherited. As a result, the Saudi prince, who wished that Trump withdrew from the political race, on the contrary played Trump «a disservice», who in the wake of anti-Islamic rhetoric has further strengthened his electoral position».
<b>«Hizb ut-Tahrir» criticizes Donald Trump’s program</b>
The most interesting thing is that Islamic militant group «Hizb ut-Tahrir», which aims to build an Islamic State Caliphate, struck Donald Trump with bunch of criticism. But, unlike Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal, the extremist party «Hizb ut-Tahrir» does not offend or humiliate Donald Trump’s personal dignity with an obscene language, instead tries to criticize his electoral program. On April 9 of 2016, one of the ideologists of the Islamic extremist group «Hizb ut-Tahrir», Gassan Kisvani, issued a statement in Jerusalem. In his words that titled «What makes the United States a great nation?» which was published on the website of the party in Russian language and harshly criticized Trump’s program.
According to the «Hizb ut-Tahrir», Donald Trump is guilty for plagiarism for borrowing the campaign slogan «make America once again a great nation» from Ronald Reagan. The same slogan that helped Reagan lead the election campaign and succeed in 1980. Furthermore, the radical Islamic organization asks: «What is this great nation, whose ideology is capitalism? What is this great nation that heaps people with fire, by killing children, women and the elderly? What is this great nation where vice and homosexuality, gang rape, drugs, murder and suicide is widespread? What is this great nation, which looks at the black with contempt to such an extent that compares them to dogs? «. At the end «Hizb ut-Tahrir», asks Allah the Almighty to install a second righteous Khilafah in the near future, that the entire world would learn the greatness of Islam and the greatness of the Islamic Ummah».
In another article titled «The irresponsible speech or hatred against Islam and Muslims?», «Hizb ut-Tahrir» is trying to make controversy with both Donald Trump and US President Barack Obama. This time radical Islamic group accuses Trump in an attempt to take control of all Muslims in the United States and the desire to close the mosques. Islamic extremist party did not like the words of Barack Obama that «Islam is not exposed to modernization as Christianity». «Hizb ut-Tahrir» accuses US President that he urged Muslims to modernize Islam, according to Christian pattern, which is a serious crime and is unacceptable to Allah according to the canons of Shariah. According to the religious groups, the leaders of Western governments carried the hidden idea of hostility and danger of Muslims, Islam and Muslim communities living in Europe and America. At the end of the statement, «Hizb ut-Tahrir» as always accuses the West, particularly the United States, for tyranny and poverty in Muslim countries, as well as the oppression of the East.
It is a well-known fact that the Islamist political party, «Hizb ut-Tahrir», is recognized as a terrorist organization, and its activities are prohibited in many countries of the Eurasian continent (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and others) and it is banned in the Arab Middle East for the religious extremism. US government agencies, include «Hizb ut-Tahrir» among groups that operate in non-violent methods, but promote the spread of extremist sentiments among Muslims and thus support of anti-Western ideology, which potentially able to provide the ideological support for terrorism. Program objectives of the «Hizb ut-Tahrir» and ISIS are similar: it is the establishment of an Islamic state - the Caliphate, which implies the overthrow of the constitutional order, which causes great concern to the public authorities in the Central Asia. According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia, «Hizb ut-Tahrir» is engaged in the recruitment and placement of Islamic radicals to the ranks of the ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria, although the party denied this.
And today, this Islamist party is trying to give its assessment on the pre-election situation in the US, and criticize one of the leaders of the race. While we have to note one important point, that Donald Trump and «Hizb ut-Tahrir» have one thing in common. This is a political populism and an exaggerated promises that will never be realized. Reasonable people are well aware, that in the age of globalization, «Hizb ut-Tahrir» will not be able to build a Caliphate in the world, and the US government will not ban all the Muslims entering the country just based on religious grounds. But for the sake of augmentation of political capital, both promise unattainable goals that their supporters enjoy and openly demonize their opponents.
Trump’s Anti-Muslim rhetoric has affected not only international politics, but also the commercial attitude of the business community. In 2016, one of the largest trading companies in the Middle East, Landmark Group, based in Dubai, stopped the sale of goods associated with the name of billionaire Donald Trump, due to his Islamophobic statements. Landmark Group has stopped the implementation of household items from the Trump Home collection through its stores in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
In the middle of May 2016, the world's attention was drawn to a virtual political controversy of the new mayor of London Sadiq Khan and the British Prime Minister David Cameron on one side and Donald Trump for his anti-Islamic statements on the other. In a recent history, such an event has never been seen before, that the leaders of US and UK policies, which are strategic partners who presented a united front against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, insulted each other with obscene language. The head of the British government called Trump «blunt, divisive and inadequate» after he suggested the idea to ban Muslims from entering the US.
After that Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of London mayor on CNN TV channel said that «Trump’s ignorant views about Islam can make both our countries less safe». Offended Donald Trump moved to the language of political blackmail, which on May 16 of 2016 on ITV British television declared the following: «If I become president of the USA, then for sure I will not have good relations with the British Prime Minister». In conclusion, he nervously called Khan «ignorant».
Earlier, Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Scotland deprived Trump from the scientific degree because of his Islamophobic statements, since it «does not correspond to the spirit and humanistic values of the university». The petition on the website of the British government to ban entry to Donald Trump, attracted a record number of signatures - more than 500, 000 people.
<b>Islamophobia - a threat to the Homeland Security of the USA</b>
Mystery of the current US presidential elections is that the louder Trump shouts an anti-Islamic slogans, for which the Muslim world reacts nervously, the better he plays with his political rivals. It was during the peak of Islamophobic hysteria in April-May of 2016, when the well-known Muslims of the world unanimously condemned it, Trump was able to defeat Ted Cruz, who is considered as a serious obstacle for the future congress of the Republican Party.
The fact remains that, with the help of the anti-Islamic hysteria, Donald Trump is trying to win over the protest electorate, who for eight years was dissatisfied with the rise to the power of the black «Muslim» Barack Obama. After all, Trump has consistently been emphasizing the possible Islamic roots of the current president. As a pragmatic businessman he clearly calculated that the Islamophobic speculations could bring him an additional political dividends, as many white voters of middle and lower-middle class have not recovered from the effects of the tragic events of 9/11, yet. For them there is no difference between the Islamic religion and the «Islamic state». Protest electorate believes that the tip of the Republican Party has betrayed their interests; conservative values were drowned in the flow of the globalization, and the Islamic radicalism enters the country with migrants. Professor in Kyrgyzstan, Tynchtykbek Chorotegin said: «Trump’s populist promises not letting Muslims in the country, build a wall on the border with Mexico and make America once again a great nation had some part became a preference of the American voters».
Trump uses anti-Islamic rhetoric not only for the prosecution of his opponents, but also to create his brutal image. He wants to seem ready to defend the US interests in case of the election victory. During a televised debate in Mississippi on January 3rd of 2016, he accused US President Barack Obama and his rival Hillary Clinton, in the creation of a terrorist organization ISIS, although the confirmation of this has not led any evidence.
In this regard, it should be noted that such a «false» accusations were previously heard from the Russian politicians and analysts. Recently the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, who is considered Kremlin’s favorite and special, echoed Trump in the heat of an emotional speech. He said that «the United States gave rise to a terrorist group» Islamic State «as an alternative to the «Al Qaeda» and against Russia.
Perhaps, the secret of the public support of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Republican Donald Trump lies precisely in its «similar» positions on international political issues. It should be noted that after the words of Putin, who described Trump as «very bright, talented and an absolute leader of the presidential race», Russian propaganda, apparently controlled by Kremlin, has actively supported the main Republican in the neutrally benevolent tone. But the support of the Russian media, which used to «create weather» in the satellite states of the Central Asia, has no role in the United States. A «rate» of the Kremlin on the Trump can explain the inertia of authoritarian thinking, typical to a generation of «cold war». Putin and Trump resemble Russian proverb that says, «Birds of a feather flock together.» Both leaders exhibit authoritarian style of the government, political pressure and chauvinistic attitude to the neighboring countries. The Kremlin logic is «the worse to them, the better for us».
Thus, the pre-election race showed that US foreign policy is focused on the fight against the international terrorism and the «Islamic state». And it is expected that throughout the course of the election, Donald Trump will still be making a lot of anti-Islamic statements, because there is a demand within the country on the part of the electorate. Therefore, analysts need to monitor such a sensitive topic that touches Muslims and the Islamic world as a whole.
During the pre-election speeches, Donald Trump throughout the world has demonstrated that in a certain part of the American electorate Islamophobia does exist, which can pose a serious threat to the US Department of Homeland Security. The task of the authorities and the new president is to establish a tolerant religious atmosphere. For that Muslim communities in the US should pursue a more transparent way of life, by conducting educational work through the media, and explaining the difference between the Islam and the «Islamic state».
Analysis of US Presidential election race shows that Donald Trump is not intended to stop speculation about the two «hot» topics which are the Islamic radicalism and the Mexican migrants. Recently, he has once again excelled by racism and religious intolerance. As Trump had said in Wall Street Journal, «US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing a lawsuit against the now defunct Trump University, would not treat him fairly because he was a Mexican opposed to his plans to build a wall between the US and Mexico». In this regard Arslan Capay said, that «this is not the last time the topic of Islamic radicalism will rise during the presidential debate by Trump, as it has already passed the red line and unable to change its anti-Islamic way. To save his reputation, he will even sound the alarm louder about the threat of Islamic radicalism, as it brings him political dividends within the country».
In the end, we can conclude that the difference of the current US presidential elections is accompanied by religious and ethnic divisions. Today, Trump resembles a red rag in the hands of a matador at a corrida, that his Islamophobic rhetoric of many Muslims in the world has set up not only against themselves, but across America...
<b>Uran Botobekov, Doctor of Political Science (PhD), expert on Political Islam</b>
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com/ target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency</font></a>
Kazakhstan: Land Protesters Face Police Rampagehttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2961Street protests, against plans to step up land privatisation, were broken up by police in many of <b>Kazakhstan</b>’s largest cities on Saturday. The demonstrations were organised by informal on-line networks, rather than by any of the recognised opposition groups. Here are key points from a report by Andrei Grishin (Almaty)FerghanaWed, 25 May 2016 08:04:00 +0300Street protests, against plans to step up land privatisation, were broken up by police in many of <b>Kazakhstan</b>’s largest cities on Saturday. The demonstrations were organised by informal on-line networks, rather than by any of the recognised opposition groups. Here are key points from a report by ANDREI GRISHIN, published here on the Fergana news site (<a href=http://www.fergananews.com/articles/8979 target=_blank>in Russian</a>).
Special rapid-reaction police detachments attacked small groups [of demonstrators] wherever they gathered. They grabbed everyone, regardless of gender, age and nationality. Dozens of journalists were arrested.
Kazakhstan had waited for the events of 21 May with bated breath. [Protesters had named that as a day of action after a previous wave of demonstrations had forced the government to pull back from planned land reforms.] The official media had railed against the protests. And it all ended – grgrgkazza3as it has so many times before – with the “slaughter of the innocents”, but this time more brutal than usual. The detention of dozens of journalists, including foreigners, was proof of that.
However, for the first time, people came out to protest all at once, in a number of cities and towns, without any leaders – because these leaders had either been arrested in advance, or had agreed to the authorities’ demands [after the previous demonstrations] and joined the [government’s] land commission.
[In Alma-ata in the south-east, the largest city in Kazakhstan and former capital, the authorities used every possible method of disrupting people’s plans to demonstrate. They created a “terrorism” scare, announcing the discovery of a stash of molotov cocktails, sticks, money and explosives; blocked social media; and issued orders forbidding public sector employees, students and workers in large enterprises from demonstrating, and in many cases, called people into work. Nevertheless, people gathered in small groups at Astana Square and by 11.30 am there were about a thousand of them. The police then went on the rampage, arresting and dispersing people.]
In other towns where activists made attempts to gather in squares or parks, the authorities acted similarly, although the numbers of both demonstrators and police were much smaller than those in Alma-ata. [There were arrests in Astana, the new capital, whereas things went comparitively peacefully in Kustanai and Pavlodar.]
In any case, no revolution took place! The president of the administrative policing committee at the ministry of internal affairs, Igor Lepekha, announced on Saturday that there had been “no unsanctioned gatherings or conflicts with the police. No breaches of order were permitted.” But at the same time he confirmed the detention of a number of people, including journalists; there had been a “misunderstanding” with the latter, he said.
Nevertheless, even this small number of demonstrations was a new phenomenon in Kazakhstan, in the sense that they started simultaneously in different regions. And all the experts noted in chorus that the land question was just the pretext, that in fact people have all sorts of other issues with the government. And that is really worrying parliament – above all, the fact that people are openly, and quite legally, calling for the resignation of the president.
And so it was clear that the government once again would deal with the problem [of protest] with repression. Evidence of this was the series of criminal cases opened even before 21 May against civil society activists, and the announcement by the internal affairs department of western Kazakhstan about “preventing mass disorder”. And it is still possible, of course, that the Alma-ata police will “find” the owners of the molotov cocktails and sticks [i.e. use frame-up tactics against militants].
However at the same time the authorities have treated the land question with great caution – thus the one-year moratorium [announced by president Nazarbayev on 6 May] on the amendments [to the land code], and the establishment of the land commission, and inclusion in it of several “disloyal” grgrgkazza1civil society activists… and the hints that have been dropped about the possibility that each citizen of the country could be granted by law 1000 square metres of free land.
Just a few days ago, when the government feared the spread of mass action, president Nazarbayev appealed to Kazakhs “not to shame ourselves before the world, but to solve our complicated problems by means of constructive dialogue”.
Despite this talk of “constructive dialogue” from the president, the police special detachments hid firearms in their buses on Saturday. Whether they had plastic bullets, tear gas or live ammunition we don’t know. But thankfully they didn’t open fire on the crowds: bearing in mind the events at Zhanaozen and Shetpe [in December 2011, when police fired on a crowd of striking oil workers, killing at least 16 and wounding at least 60], it seems there was enough sense at the top to order that there be no repeat of that. 25 May 2016.
<b>Translated by <a href=https://peopleandnature.wordpress.com/2016/05/25/kazakhstan-land-protesters-face-police-rampage/#more-1537 target=_blank>People and Nature</a>.</b>
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>Lost childhood in the «Caliphate»http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2960According to the special services of Kyrgyzstan, about 140 minors were deported from the Republic of Iraq and Syria, who are now held in the military training bases of ISIS. Among them, the vast majority of children are under the age of 14. According to the human rights organizations more than 600 children from Central Asia are on the territory of Syria and Iraq that is controlled by ISISUran BotobekovFri, 20 May 2016 13:05:00 +0300<b>ISIS prepares suicide children bombers from Central Asia</b>
Recently, Central Asians saw on YouTube a terrible video of how a teenager <a href=http://www.rferl.org/content/islamic-state-weeping-suicide-bomber-migrant-worker-kyrgyzstan-russia/27305925.html target=_blank>Babur Israilov</a> from Jalal-Abad in southern Kyrgyzstan, became a suicide bomber, undermining armoured car with laden explosives in the Syrian town of Foix. In the video, we can observe how Babur cried before being sent to the death. But one of the fighters encouraged him, by saying in Uzbek language that Satan intervenes at crucial moment to confuse Muslim’s mind, so he should think only of Allah. Further in the video we can hear sentimental Arabic music, armoured personnel carrier movement and, at the fatal moment, the bomb explosion. As it was published on Radio Liberty, this event happened on September 18th, 2015 but spread online by ISIS propaganda resource “Al-Hayat Media Centre” only recently. According to the British edition of <a href=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3270732/They-send-children-death-remain-alive-Family-fury-al-Qaeda-s-suicide-bomber-filmed-sobbing-blew-Syria.html target=_blank>"Dailymail.com"</a>, Babur Israilov was a member of an extremist group of Uzbeks «Imam Bukhari Jamaat», which fights alongside with Al Qaeda in Syria. The young man from Kyrgyzstan blew himself up in the villages of Fuel in Syria province.
It was a real shock for all of us, especially for God-fearing Muslims of the Fergana Valley, who watched the whole suicide bombing act on the screen. And now I witnessed my countryman from Jalal-Abad (where the famous Kyrgyz tobacco is grown, the one Stalin sent to Winston Churchill during the Second World War) blow himself up in front of a cheering jihadists. At that moment, I thought that the real world came to the cities and streets of Central Asia. Central Asia is considered a cradle of Islamic civilization, and it gave the world great Muslim scholars such as Al-Bukhari, al-Tirmidhi, al-Sarakhsi and al-Farabi. Children committing suicide under the false slogan of "Jihad” made me cry and pray: "Oh, Allah, forgive your sinful sons, those who kill themselves, and those who deliberately push themselves to death!”
Islam prohibits all kinds of violence, including violence against one’s own body, and killing other people. Suicide is fundamentally contrary to the teachings of Islam. Allah says in the Quran: “Do not kill yourselves by adopting unlawful means. Indeed Allah is Merciful to you” <a href=http://www.tafsir.web.id/2013/01/tafsir-surat-al-baqarah-ayat-1-7.html target=_blank>(Nisa/29)</a>. Suicide considered an unpardonable sin from an Islamic point of view. Sharia consideres suicide a crime, punished by eternity in hell. Islam forbids intihar (suicide) and condemns those who are pushing children to intihar. But the leader of the terrorist group "Islamic State» (ISIS), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and his accomplices, brutally violate the provisions of Allah by distorting the rules of the Quran and pushing to the death hundreds of children. They deprive them of their most precious thing-life. When I see on the Internet, the acts done by children of “Caliphate”, who coldly and cruelly execute prisoners, my soul torns apart from the pain ... “O Allah, let the ISIS burn in the eternal fire of hell, which pushes children to suicide and denigrates peaceful religion of Islam”.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/05/halif3.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Babur Israilov</font><br />
The video of the suicide Uzbek boy, Babur Israilov, is not the only ISIS propaganda material, which depicts children of “caliphate” in Central Asia. In January of 2015, Russian-language "Al-Hayat Media Center» (Al Hayat Media Centre) of an Islamic state has spread videos, showing how Kazakh children in Syria execute two Russian FSB agents. In the beginning of April 2016, two videos were posted on YouTube channel in which a resident of Osh Abu Amin from Kyrgyzstan is sitting with his grandson, and on another video an armed Kazakh boy dressed in camouflage uniform is threatening the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. In these two video materials, ISIS urges the Central Asians to come with their families and to protect the “Caliphate” where good conditions are created for the education of children in the spirit of Islam.
<b>How many children from Central Asia are in ISIS camps?</b>
According to the special services of Kyrgyzstan, about 140 minors were deported from the Republic of Iraq and Syria, who are now held in the military training bases of ISIS. Among them, <a href=http://rus.azattyk.org/content/article/27643417.html target=_blank>the vast majority of children</a> are under the age of 14, especially, 85 children are up to 10 years of age, 25 children are up to 14 years, 11 children - up to 16 years, and four girls are under the age of 18 years.
Authorities do not report how many children came to Islamic State from the Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. But according to the human rights organizations more than 600 children from Central Asia are on the territory of Syria and Iraq that is controlled by ISIS. This number is based on the fact that most children were brought into the conflict zone by their own parents. According to various estimates, ISIS consist of about 3,000 religious extremists, who were recruited from Central Asia. Number of children from the former republics of the Soviet Union can vary a lot, and no one can pin point the exact number. There are many cases where women from Central Asia gave birth in the Caliphate to create a new generation of children of war. These children will only know the violence and nothing else. Radio “Liberty Uzbek” analyst of the National Security Service (NSS), Husan Mamurov has reported that there were even attempts to recruit Russian obstetricians from the Fergana Valley to Syria. A young doctor from Samarkand, Fakhriddin Muhiddinov, told the local media that he refused the offer of the recruiters. Another physician, Abdulraim Bozorov, informed the <a href=http://rus.ozodlik.org/content/article/27236797.html target=_blank>“Liberty Uzbek”</a> editors that neither he nor his colleagues would join the group despite the extremely low doctors salaries in Uzbekistan. This indicates that children population is growing in ISIS. Especially, since many of them have little or no opportunity to escape from the Islamic state, comparing to adults.
President of «Quilliam» Foundation, Noman Benotmane, <a href=http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/publications/free/the-children-of-islamic-state.pdf target=_blank>did a conceptual analysis</a> of life, studies and terrorist skills of children in the Islamic state. He said that «It is clear that enrolling (to establish quantity) children into the armed groups is now a major problem in Iraq and Syria, with many organisations, including ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) recruiting children and adolescents».
An estimated 50 children, from the UK alone, <a href=http://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/children-forced-into-jihadist-training-in-compulsory-schooling-under-islamic-state/news-story/d751dde86756e58b3b8710f07a62966d target=_blank>are growing up</a> under ISIS.
According to the “Children of the Islamic State” report, there are several categories of children in the ‘Caliphate’ – children of foreign fighters, children of local fighters, abandoned children, children that are forced to enroll (either from ISIS controlled orphanages or those children that are abducted), and from voluntary recruits. Together they form what is known as «Cubs of the Caliphate».
Militants from the extremist group “Islamic State" teach children cruelty in order to grow a new generation of terrorists. According to the stories of the local journalists, some children from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were trained in the the ISIS "Ashbal al-hilyafa" ("Cubs of the Caliphate") camps. Jihadists force children to watch the murders and to play football with severed heads. According to the «Quilliam» research, children and young people are the best fighters because they are introduced to the violence from a very early age. Promotional videos often show how ISIS is training children in the camps. For example, residents of the South Kazakhstan region were horrified when they recognized a little boy, who lived next door to them, killed captives through the orders of senior militants. Some children from a young age are prepared for the role of suicide bombers by the deliberate brainwashing ideas of jihad and martyrdom. Those who do not want to become martyrs are mainly being tortured, raped or killed.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/05/halif2.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A"></font><br />
Political elite of Central Asia is seriously concerned about the repatriation of trained suicide bombers, such as Uzbek boy Bobur Israilov. No one can guarantee that the children who returned from that area, will not apply their skills in the Ferghana Valley, where the conflicts based on religious extremism is very high. Especially in the region with high activity of the radical Islamic groups, such as "Hizb ut-Tahrir" the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Wahhabi-takfiri of "Salafi", who sympathize and secretly support the Islamic State. If a spark of religious conflict will flame in the Ferghana Valley, then the light will almost immediately reach all states of Central Asia. Generated fire will be very difficult to extinguish. It is not by chance that Zbigniew Brzezinski defines this area as the "Eurasian Balkans" (Zbigniew Brzezinski. The Grand Chessboard. NY, 10022, 1997).
The Islamic state has already created childrens army of religious extremists. And now the secular Central Asian states will have to fight them for many years. For the recrutiment and education of children, ISIS focuses on those areas of the world where construction of the Caliphate will have a strong and a fertile background in the future. Therefore, the Ferghana Valley in Central Asia has all the necessary conditions. These are authoritarian power, corrupted power structures, suppression of religious freedom, economic poverty, high unemployment, and criminal prosecution of Islamic leaders and influential underground jihadists. Islamic state <a href=http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/publications/free/the-children-of-islamic-state.pdf target=_blank>sets its strategic goals</a> through children: «ISIS leaders pay particular attention to children in their territory, because the future of any state lies with the next generation. Therefore, the ‘caliphate’ is investing heavily in indoctrinating children with IS extremist ideology as early as possible. Having been introduced to ideology at a young age, children are more likely to consider it as normal, and therefore defend its practices. Thus, the indoctrination has both tactical and strategic value for IS. Not only can children help to meet the present needs of the ‘caliphate’, but also once they grow up, they will continue to propagate its existence and expansion, thus securing its long-term survival».
Since March of 2016, international coalition led by the United States launched a series of attacks on targets and manpower of ISIS. Soldiers of the “Caliphate” were defeated on the battlefield. Thanks to Allah, “Caliphate” territory began to shrink. Jihadists were forced to hand over Palmyra. The next step is Iraqi city of Mosul. With the weakening of the Islamic state, and the loss of fighting spirit, Central Asia began to return its citizens who fought on the side of the ISIS. According to <a href=http://www.fergananews.com/articles/8774 target=_blank>the Kyrgyz security services representative</a>, Rakhat Sulaimanova, more than 100 have already returned from Syria and were brought to criminal responsibility (who returned from Syria are involved mainly in two articles of the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan: 226-4 "participation in armed conflicts or military actions" and 375 "Mercenary").
<b>Kyrgyzstan wants a court for children at the age of 14?</b>
Kyrgyz authorities are unable and unwilling to provide preventive work to the "children of Caliphate" who returned to their homeland. The law enforcement agencies prefer the repressive methods of punishment and prosecution instead of preventive maintenance. With each passing day, the pressure on the children and their parents, who had joined the extremist group of ISIS, is more and more intensive. The Social Democratic Party that belongs to Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has initiated a draft law to strengthen the penalties for the children who participate in illegal armed groups. At the end of March 2016, committee on Social Affairs, Education, Science, Culture and Health of Kyrgyzstan has started discussion of the bill. According to the author of the draft law, MP Kyyanbek Satybaldiyev, bill is considering to strengthen penalties for those who are involved in certain crimes such as: the financing of terrorism, calling or engaging in extremist activity, harboring extremists, the passage of an extremist training or participation in hostilities abroad. The draft law proposes to deprive those who are involved in all the steps listed above, from the exemptions, preferences, right of amnesty or early release for any other reasons. In addition, it is proposed to bring children above 14 years of age to justice for the crimes that are mentioned above. According to the MP, this measure will prevent the involvement of adolescents in illegal activities and radical religious groups. Under the current law the criminal liability involves children starting from 16 years of age.
The bill provoked a strong reaction among the Kyrgyz society. Human rights organizations and NGOs have opposed this bill because, in their opinion, it is contrary to the UN Charter and the Geneva Convention, relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. But the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan representative, Raim Salimov, supported the strengthening of the criminal responsibility of adolescents.
<img src=http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/05/halif4.jpg width=100% hspace=20 border=0 alt=""><br><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="3" COLOR="#7A7A7A"></font><br />
On May 10 of 2015, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, <a href=http://rus.ozodi.org/content/article/27007062.html target=_blank>declared</a> to their citizens who are in the Islamic state, that if they will voluntarily return and repent for their involvement in the wars in Syria, Iraq and other countries, then they will be exempted from the criminal liability. But after the closure the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) on September 29 of 2015, and the demonstrative arrest of its active members, the religious radicals have decided not to return back home because of the fear of prosecution and political repression. This actually disrupted the conditions of peace agreement in 1997 which finished the bloody five-year civil war in Tajikistan.
<b>Children Rejected by the society are looking for shelter</b>
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan law enforcement agencies of have no clear work plan that deals with the "children of Caliphate" who return from Syria. The government has failed to develop a program of adaptation of children at home which exists in Finland. It is important priority for government agencies, to integrate old religious extremists to a new, peaceful society, and bring them to civilian life back. However nothing has been done in this area so far. The state has no money in order to implement this program. The power structures, social institutions and the local authorities of the Central Asian states are unable to work with radical Islamic groups. The court in the Central Asian countries banned the activities of the parties such as "Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami" radical groups, "Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan", "Jund al Khilafah", "Ansarulloh", "Al-Takfir Val-Hijra", "Akromiya "" Katibat al-Imam al-Bukhari "," Jannat oshiklari "("paradise Fans")," Islamic jihad Union ", the Wahhabi-takfiri for "Salafi ". According to an old tradition, security agencies prefer to work with repressive methods. Police officers and prosecutors drive them deep underground through the arrest, prosecution and intimidation of religious radicals and ethnic minority. In fact, radicals are detached from the society and the state. But this does not solve the problem of Islamic radicalism. On the other hand, supporters of the extremist groups are waiting for an opportunity to throw out the accumulated anger and resentment against the power authorities. In this sense, ISIS turned out to be a convenient strategy for them.
Now, the fighters and the "children Caliphate" began returning from Syria to Central Asia. Some of them have disappointment in relation to the ISIS. But in addition to the prosecution, the state structures are not working with them at all. They are thrown overboard. Local government does not give them a chance to integrate into the civilian life. On April 15 of 2016, my countrymen, citizens of the Kyrgyz village Kazharov in Jalal-Abad, decided to evict villager H.Mahmudov with his family. The reason was that, one of the sons of Makhmudov, who was student of madrasa at the age of 20 years left in 2015, to join ISIS in Syria and died there. In March, the villagers unsuccessfully <a href=http://rus.azattyq.org/a/kyrsyzstan-selo-semya-uekhavshtgo-v-syriu/27685481.html target=_blank>attempted</a> to evict the parents of jihadist twice.
I am very sorry to my fellow countrymen, whose ancestors had lived in the neighborhood together for centuries within the same village. They are now evicting Makhmudov’s family, who is already immersed in deep sorrow. And now should mothers and fathers of jihadists go? They have absolutely nowhere to go or take asylum. Local government pushes them deep into nowhere. I'm afraid that Makhmudov’s parents have only one road - the road to the Islamic state in Syria...
Bitter and sad...
ISIS took the life of my countryman...
ISIS is now taking home of his parents...
<b>Uran Botobekov, Doctor of Political Science (PhD), expert on Political Islam</b>
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency</font></a>
Washington and Sanjar Umarov want to shed light on Uzbek Kleptocracy moneyhttp://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=2959A public discussion to address the issue of where the Uzbek funds frozen in Swiss banks could be directed, took place in Washington, DC, on April 20. Sanjar Umarov, a former entrepreneur and Prisoner of Conscience, participated in the Washington discussion about the possible allocation of forfeited funds. Our news agency followed up with Sanjar Umarov in more detail about his claims and what his vision is regarding further confiscation and distribution of said moniesMaria YanovskayaWed, 27 Apr 2016 22:27:00 +0300A public discussion to address the issue of where the <b>Uzbek</b> funds frozen in Swiss banks could be directed, took place in Washington, DC, on April 20.
The US Department of Justice issued a press release in February, reading in part: “VimpelCom Limited, the sixth largest telecommunication company in the world and an issuer of publicly placed securities in the United States and its Uzbek subsidiary company Unitel LLC released a joint resolution with the US Department of Justice, where they confessed to the secret payment of bribes, amounting to more than $114 million, to government officials in Uzbekistan between 2006 to 2012. <…> In regard to this, the Department of Justice filed a civil suit for the confiscation of more than $550 million in Swiss bank accounts, which represent payments made to the “VIMPELCOM SHAREHOLDERS” and another two separate telecommunications companies or stocks involved in laundering this money, to an official of the Republic of Uzbekistan. <…> Earlier, on 29 June 2015, another civil suit was filed, stating the confiscation of more than $300 million in various Bank and investment accounts in Belgium, Luxembourg and Ireland. This money represented funds correlated with bribes or participation in the laundering of bribes paid to "VIMPELCOM SHAREHOLDERS and another telecommunications company to the same Uzbek official.”
<b>Sanjar Umarov</b>, a former entrepreneur and Prisoner of Conscience, participated in the Washington discussion about the possible allocation of forfeited funds. Mr Umarov was released from an Uzbek prison in 2009 and now lives in the USA. Fergana learnt Mr. Umarov wrote a letter to the US Justice Department, in which he lays claim to some of those funds as compensation for damages he sustained in Uzbekistan. The claimant also says he is owed funds in the case of Uzdunrobita, then fully-owned subsidiary of the Russian MTS telecommunications company since 2006. Uzdunrobita was declared bankrupt and its assets were transferred to the balance of the national communication operator Uzbektelecom, and several managers were convicted in 2013.
Our news agency followed up with Sanjar Umarov in more detail about his claims and what his vision is regarding further confiscation and distribution of said monies.
Uzdunrobita was founded in 1991. A statement your family released [after your release from prison] reads in part that you "took a direct part in the Uzdunrobita project that you admitted "the direct participation in the project. In a different text, you were called one of the founders of the company. What role did you play?</b>
“The agreement on the creation of Uzdunrobita was signed between U.S. representatives and the Ministry of Communications of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in February 1991, which was signed by the Minister of Communications and his deputy. Paul Griffiths and Victor Fishman signed on behalf of the U.S. side.
“A proposal on the establishment of a joint venture was made to Uzbek side in the first half of 1990, but it just idly sat on a table in the ministry: communications field was an almost ‘sacred’ field, and allowing foreigners, especially from the U.S., therein was very difficult. Therefore, Uzbek side stalled the project, which was then just ‘collecting dust.’ I learned about it from the Americans: I was engaged with a business school, and we tried to engage foreigners in Tashkent at the time. Furthermore, I had friendly relationships with Victor Fishman, an assistant to Paul Griffiths. I visited their office often.
“I saw the draft proposal, read it carefully and found it interesting. ‘Why is it just lying around like this?’ I asked. ‘We just cannot begin to promote it, because the Ministry of Communications won’t respond, no feedback,’ [I was told]. I said I was interested if they wanted me to implement this project. However, there was one condition: They must deal exclusively through me, and no one else approaches the ministry with this proposal. That was fine, they said, as it had been lying around for several months with no perspective anyway. [This conversation took place] in October.
“I undertook the promotion of the project and by the end of December we initiated the treaty and the governing documents. I was able to accomplish this in two months. The formal signing had then taken place in February 1991.”
<b>What was your official involvement with Uzdunrobita? Were you the owner? Or a beneficiary after it was turned into a private company?</b>
“Uzdunrobita was initially a joint venture where the government was a stakeholder. The story behind it not very pleasant to recall… Even though I represented a U.S.-based company, I remained a citizen of Uzbekistan and someone with a Soviet mindset still. So I tried to take into account the interests of the state. Initially, we gave 55% [presumably: shares] to the Ministry of Communications, and the U.S. side owned 45%. And this distribution [of shares] remained in force until early 2001, albeit with minor changes. And then, when a ‘well-known person’ cast their eye on Uzdunrobita, and the state shares at some point were acquired almost free of charge and transferred to an offshore company, and then sold to MTS. They took what was up for grabs.
[Sanjar Umarov did not name this ‘well-known person’ throughout the entire interview. Obviously only Gulnara Karimova, the Uzbek president’s eldest daughter, could be the person under this title—Fergana.]
“At about the same time, they took control of the U.S. shares and sold it to MTS as well, thereby ultimately making MTS the 100% owner of Uzdunrobita. But all this took place in stages.”
<b>And how was [this person] able to acquire the American share?</b>
“As far as I'm aware, [the person] first demanded about a half of what the U.S. Representatives owned, i.e. 20% of all shares. [The person] demanded part of the shares because she would lobby their interests. The remainder was acquired later, when she already owned the Uzbek government’s shares. By that time she owned at least 51% [of shares]: she controlled the company and simply 'squeezed out' of Americans. They ran into troubles: the electricity would frequently be disconnected and technology personnel arriving in Uzbekistan was intimated. Ultimately, they gave her what remained for undervalue price, which she acquired and resold to MTS.”
<b>But was not all this happening in 2006, after MTS acquired Uzdunrobita? Were you not already jailed by then?</b>
“It began in 2001.”
<b>Correct. However, what was your official role in the company? How could you justify to the US Department of Justice your right for compensation? Were you an appointed director or did you have money invested in the company?</b>
“The company was a joint venture between the U.S. side and the Ministry of Communications of the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan. I could not lay claim on the ministry’s shares. When the company was being established, I told the U.S. side that I was interested in this investment project and was not eying any commission. However, when you would be ready to sell the company, I am interested in the so-called ‘first hand right’ (‘Privileged option to buy’—Fergana). In other words, when the Americans would have made money as well as returned their investments with profits and were ready to sell the business, I should be the first in line to buy the company. I have had the right and I had an agreement [to this effect] with Mr Griffiths, then President of Uzdunrobita.”
<b>And it turns out she stripped you of this right?</b>
“When we were just starting doing this business, we were still ‘Soviet people’ in our mentality, i.e. we had interests of the state in mind. We claimed the state’s share in the company from our foreign partners even though the government did not invest a penny into this enterprise. The government only granted permission to use radio frequencies and so on, while the U.S. investors shouldered all other expenses. They paid the office rent, towers, electricity, etc.
“I could not even imagine that the head of state’s daughter would just grab the government’s shares in ten years for almost pennies and then turn around and sell it. I could not have calculated such moves.”
<div class="imagePreviewHolder"><img src="http://news.fergananews.com/photos/2016/04/sanjarr2.jpg" alt="" class="imagePreview"><div class="imagePreviewText">Sanjar Umarov</div></div><b>Well, nobody would be able to.</b>
“Yes. And at that point, any further digging in would have resulted in my inability to return to Uzbekistan and living in the United States, which I didn’t have a desire to do. My family was living in the United States because my children were attending school there. But they would visit Uzbekistan for holidays twice a year and I visited them regularly. We spent about 70 percent of time together.
“I thought that children should own homes in their homeland so they don’t experience the feeling of being deprived immigrants. So when my son graduated from University, I persuaded him to return to Uzbekistan. I didn’t even let him complete his masters’ degree.”
<b>But he is with you now?</b>
“Yes. We are all together now.”
<b>So you sent a letter to the US Department of Justice, wherein you claim that a portion of the money that may be confiscated by the court must be paid to you as compensation for the damages in the Uzdunrobita case. Is this so?</b>
“[Yes, but] not only concerning the Uzdunrobita case. I don’t really care where this well-known person got the money. But I believe that part of this money, which will be confiscated from her, should be used to support the civil society. I have my own personal interest as well: I want to be compensated for the damages I suffered. It is like killing two birds with one stone.
“As I said in the interview with the Dojd TV Company, Uzdunrobita was just the beginning of all problems. The biggest problem happened in 2005. I was promoting a big gas-to-liquid project starting in 2003, I believe. The project was aimed at producing liquid hydrocarbons from natural gas. This was a 100% investment project, which we then evaluated at one billion dollars, and we didn’t even ask for government guarantees. This was direct foreign investment project.
“As we know, oil production started to contract at the time, and it was evident that Uzbekistan is about to face a deficit of liquid hydrocarbons, while there was an abundance of natural gas. By the early 2000s, technology to produce liquid hydrocarbons from natural gas appeared affordable, and we held talks with a reputable well-established company in the United States and agreed that we would jointly promote this project in Uzbekistan. And my task was promoting the project.
“We launched in 2003. There is a provision in Uzbekistan, in accordance with which any project worth more than $20 million must be entered into an investment program that the president signs every year. But in order for the project to reach the president for signing, it is also necessary to obtain signed approvals from the prime minister, four vice-premiers and four state advisers—nine signatures in total.
“One can’t simply obtain these signatures. Everyone has a trusted person, and you need to meet with each one of them, negotiate and ‘solve the problem.’ I did not agree to that, because I did not want to go down that alley.
“By that time my family was living in the U.S. and my children were studying there. I also had permanent residency, and I didn’t want to smear myself with bribes. There is a law on combating corruption abroad (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the FCPA) in the United States, and I did not want to be charged based on this law. I found an investment partner, who agreed to invest in the project, which was hundreds of millions of dollars, and what should I tell him? ‘You now need to pay a bribe’? (Laughs) It was not a serious [approach] and [would entail] criminal [liability].
“So I decided to go openly, and gave an interview about the project and pertaining opportunities, hoping it would elicit the president’s attention. But the interview, apparently, caught the eye of Zeromax [a Swiss-Uzbek company, which was the largest investor in the Uzbek economy, and was completely controlled by Gulnara Karimova. It declared bankruptcy in 2010—Fergana], and I was proposed the following: If you are being quoted ten percent by them, we will do it for five [percent]. This will then cost you $50 million, not $100 million (if this is a billion-dollar project). But I was not comfortable paying them even a single dollar; I was not comfortable with the very underlying principle.”
<b>Going back to the compensation for damages: What did you write in your letter to the Department of Justice?</b>
“I proposed that part of the confiscated funds could be allocated for the promotion of democracy, human rights and civil society, including paying [as compensation] people recognized as victims by the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations. The Committee obligated Uzbekistan to compensate them, but Tashkent has not paid anything so far. And I am also asking for the compensation of personal costs.”
<b>The Department of Justice indicates in its lawsuit that this money, which they consider to be bribes, was given to VimpelCom and two other telecommunication companies, which are not named. Uzdunrobita became a subsidiary of MTS in 2006, when you were already behind bars. The GTL project was also launched without you. Therefore, why should bribe money from telecommunication companies be used to cover the damages caused elsewhere and for someone who was not involved in these processes? On what do you base your claims on part of this money? Only on the fact that this money belonged to Gulnara Karimova?</b>
“Let’s look at the case. The Department of Justice maintains that there are two components. First, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. There are negotiations between the Justice Department and telecommunication companies, like Vimpelcom, Teliasonera, and so on in accordance with this act.”
<b>Vimpelcom" agreed to pay a fine.</b>
“Yes, a fine [to be paid] to the US government. The second component of the case is the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative: monies in the accounts owned or controlled by this well-known person were blocked under this initiative. Obviously I cannot claim the money the [aforementioned] telecommunications companies will pay to the U.S. government. The U.S. government will decide itself what to do with these funds. Of course, if it would send them to support the civil society in Uzbekistan, it would be very good. But this is something the U.S. government will have to address.
“At the same time, the frozen funds that belonged to the well-known person could be claimed, because that money is not considered property of the [aforementioned] telecommunications companies. It's the money of the well-known person or persons close to her or offshore companies, which have a beneficial owner.
“Given that Zeromax and the well-known person were behind my arrest, I can obviously make claims [to part of those funds].”
<b>And you can prove this?</b>
“I believe that I can, yes.”
<b>In both cases: Uzdunrobita and “GTL?” Or will there be other cases, in which you will defend your rights, proving the Uzbek president’s daughter violated them? </b>
“These are details. My lawyers will work on them.”
<b>But you can lay claim only if the Department of Justice lawsuit is won on the confiscation of the money?</b>
“Yes.”
<b>How much damage do you estimate was inflicted on you?</b>
“Again, these are details.”
<b>I’m interested [in learning this detail].</b>
“I have to discuss this matter with the lawyers. This is the next step, and we are still in the initial phase.”
<b>Have you not determined the amount of damages yet?</b>
“We must get past the first step. If it should take place, then we shall go further. Step by step.”
<b>Isn’t sending a letter to the Department a first step? And hasn’t that already been accomplished?</b>
“Yes, but now there must be feedback (response). There must be a dialogue.”
<b>In your letter, you do not stipulate damages, but simply declare your rights.</b>
“Yes. This was the first request.”
<b>There are laws in America, which enable you to believe that [your attempt] can be successful?</b>
“Yes. Even within the limits of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, there are cases that took place and positively resolved for the dissatisfied party. If the U.S. government wins the case, then it decides who to distribute the money to, and it is not required to go to court for the second time. I believe a couple of years ago, there was similar case heard with confiscated money of a Nigerian dictator.”
<b>And those receiving compensation for damages might not necessarily have suffered directly from the companies offering bribes?</b>
“Yes, because the money belongs not to the companies that gave bribes, but to those who took the bribes.”
<b>Do you know someone else who is ready to make claims on the money?</b>
“Yes. There was a company [that did business] with tea; they have been in litigation for a long time.”
<b>They will also seek compensation for damages?</b>
“I think so.”
<b>There were funds confiscated following the “Kazakhgate.” Kazakhstan, Switzerland and the United States established the BOTA Foundation, which was engaged in the distribution of the confiscated money. I'm not sure establishing a similar foundation would be possible in Uzbekistan. Doing so will obviously require Tashkent’s participation, and it is unlikely the Uzbek authorities would go for it.</b>
“And if they have no other choice, why wouldn’t they go for it?”
<b>They want that money back.</b>
“Yes. And when they understand that the funds are not coming back, they will agree. After all, the BOTA Fund was not immediately created and Kazakhstan, too, would have liked the money returned. And when it did not happen, [the Kazakh authorities] agreed. The claim [the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan] lodged became known in January, but nothing was heard since then. I do not know who advised this, but apparently this was purely a bureaucratic move so they would not be blamed [for failing to act to defend the Uzbek government]. The Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan proposed this in order to demonstrate that they were trying to do something. But they have no chance; even theoretically, they are scanty.
“I would propose creating a fund like BOTA, taking its experience into account. There is a lot of money, and it would be sufficient for many [projects]. I would propose creating something like the Nobel Fund, which generates profit annually. It is not necessary to use and spend everything so nothing remains; the money must be used for the development of social entrepreneurship with the profit going directly to the needs of civil society—the socially unprotected segment of society specifically.”
<b>Is it possible that this money could be released in part for opposition activities abroad? Or, given the Uzbek government participation is expected, is it hardly even discussed as a proposal?</b>
“No government allocates money for political activities, and opposition activity is politics. The confiscated funds may not be used for political purposes.”
<b>Interviewed by Maria Yanovskaya</b>
<a href=http://enews.fergananews.com target=_blank style="text-decoration: none;"> <FONT FACE="Arial" COLOR="#7A7A7A">Fergana international information agency.</a></font>